Deposition technology of a new nanostructured material for reversible charge storage

Reversible charge storage effect was observed in thin amorphous hydrogenated carbon-germanium films produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. These films consist of semiconductor grains embedded in an insulator matrix. The grains could serve as charge containers separated from one another by insulator walls. Scanning probe microscope equipped with conducting tip and cantilever is utilized for both local charge imaging and its modification. Depending on the sign of voltage applied to the tip, charge can be locally injected or removed from the film. Exploring this technique in data storage application, one can achieve information density of the order 1014 bit/m2.