https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2014140239
A water-based molecular flip-flop
1
Department of Physics, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, Linan
311300, P.R. China
2
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Utilization of Forestry Biomass, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, Linan
311300, P.R. China
3
Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai
200433, P.R. China
a e-mail: yuwang_zafu@126.com
b e-mail: jphuang@fudan.edu.cn
Received:
5
June
2014
Revised:
28
October
2014
Accepted:
6
November
2014
Published online:
12
December
2014
The flip-flop, which has been widely used in digital circuits, has two stable states and can be used to store state information. Because traditional flip-flops based on digital circuits suffer from a barrier to higher performance, it is necessary to explore some new alternative devices. For this purpose, we utilize molecular dynamics simulations to design a molecular flip-flop, which contains one water molecule confined within a single-walled carbon nanotube. Its two states can be switched within 0.5 ps (2000 GHz), and its state information can be exported by the charged atomic-force microscope force probes. The mechanism of the flip-flop depends on the behavior of a water molecule in a nonuniform electric field. In particular, a water molecule always moves toward the location of lowest electric energy in a nonuniform electric field generated by point charges. The resulting flip-flop could be utilized for designing nanoscale devices.
© EDP Sciences, 2014
