New 2D memory device stores data on just a single electron

Every time you use your smartphone to send a text, take a photo or post to social media, countless electrons are doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes by handling inputs and storing that information.

But researchers in China have created a new chip that uses just a single electron to store data.

In a study published July 16 in the journal Science , scientists demonstrated a two-dimensional (2D) flash memory chip that can trap a solitary electron at room temperature, reducing the energy needed for processing data.

The device has been nicknamed "Guiyi," which means "return to one" in Chinese Buddhism.

This is a nod to a single electron being the theoretical minimum it takes to transfer a single bit, with the South China Morning Post likening it to the "holy grail for the semiconductor industry." A stronger signal from a single electron The reason this technology could be a big breakthrough, the scientists believe, is that it promises to solve challenges associated with energy efficiency, speed and stability all in one device.

"Our demands for storage speed, capacity, energy efficiency and stability have reached a new level in the AI era," study co-author Chunsen Liu , an engineer at Fudan University, told state-owned China Daily .

"Being able to store one bit of information by changing the state of a single electron will significantly reduce power consumption and pave the way for much larger storage capacity." A diagram showing the structure of an atom, with electrons orbiting the nucleus. (Image credit: agung fatria viaGetty Images) According to the study, scientists tried to store data using a single electron in the late 1990s, but the signal, or electrical pulse, generated from trapping the electron was too faint to read clearly.

They likened it to trying to detect the ripple from a single drop of rain falling into a reservoir.

To get around this problem, the team structured the Guiyi 2D flash memory chip to feature a layer of graphene before the floating gate ‪—‬ a trap that can hold electrons and a place where data can be stored even after power is switched off.

Electrons can move through graphene's single-atom hexagonal lattice with very low resistance and at high speed with minimal energy loss.

This layer of graphene enables electrons to accelerate before jumping into the floating gate, where they are then trapped.

The result was a stronger electrical pulse from a single trapped electron, which produced a 0.5-volt signal ‪—‬ 10 times stronger than previous single-electron attempts, the researchers said.

Liu told China Daily that Guiyi could help data move more quickly between computing and storage units.