Ultra-Low Power Nano-electromechanical Switch Realized by Controlled and Reversible Crack

A novel nanoscale device realized by the electrically controlled reversible single nanocrack in an alloy film/ferroelectric oxide heterostructure has been demonstrated. The crack state (open/closed) can be programmed under a cyclic electric field and is nonvolatile. In addition, due to its mechanical switching behavior, a high on/off current ratio (>10
⁵
) and near-zero static power consumption can be achieved. Our proposed nanoscale device concept offers a new implementation of nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switch, which can be used for a nonvolatile random-access memory and configurable logic tables.