Flex your memory with FlexRam
Researchers have developed the ultimate flexible memory, one that can withstand nearly any deformation
In research described in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers from Tsinghua University have used a gallium-based liquid metal to achieve FlexRAM’s data writing-and-reading process. In an example of biomimicry, the gallium-based liquid metal (GLM) droplets undergo oxidation and reduction mechanisms while in a solution environment that mimics the hyperpolarization and depolarization of neurons.
“This breakthrough fundamentally changes traditional notions of flexible memory, offering a theoretical foundation and technical path for future soft intelligent robots, brain-machine interface systems, and wearable/implantable electronic devices.”
—Jing Liu, Tsinghua University
These positive and negative bias voltages define the writing of information “1” and “0,” respectively. When a low voltage is applied, the liquid metal is oxidized, corresponding to the high-resistance state of “1.” By reversing the voltage polarity, it returns the metal to its initial low-resistance state of “0.” This reversible switching process allows for the storage and erasure of data.
To showcase the reading and writing capabilities of FlexRAM, the researchers integrated it into a software-and-hardware setup. Through computer commands, they encoded a string of letters and numbers, represented in the form of 0s and 1s, onto an array of eight FlexRAM storage units, equivalent to 1 byte of data information. The digital signal from the computer underwent conversion into an analog signal using pulse-width modulation to precisely control the oxidation and reduction of the liquid metal.
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