Molecular dynamics study of electromechanical nanotube random access memory

Abstract

A nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switching device based on carbon nanotube (CNT) was investigated using atomistic simulations. The model schematics for a CNT-based three-terminal NEM switching device fabrication were presented. For the CNT-based three-terminal NEM switch, the interactions between the CNT-lever and the drain electrode or the substrate were very important. When the electrostatic force applied to the CNT-lever was the critical point, the CNT-lever was rapidly bent because of the attractive force between the CNT-lever and the drain; then, the total potential energy of the CNT-lever was rapidly increased and the interatomic potential energy of the CNT-copper was rapidly decreased. The energy curves for the pull-in and the pull-out processes showed the hysteresis loop that was induced by the adhesion of the CNT on the copper, which was the interatomic interaction between the CNT and the copper.