# US 2017/0288017 A1 · Nanodevice

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- Number: US 2017/0288017 A1
- Document ID: US20170288017A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/507,530
- Filed: 2015-08-25
- Published: 2017-10-05
- Earliest claimed: 2014-08-29
- Assignees: Japan Science and Technology Agency
- Applicants: Japan Science and Technology Agency
- Inventors: Yutaka Majima; Toshiharu Teranishi; Shinya Kano; Eiki Aoyama
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170288017A1

## CPC

- H10D 62/118: {Nanostructure semiconductor bodies}
- B82Y 30/00: Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
- H10B 69/00: Erasable-and-programmable ROM [EPROM] devices not provided for in groups H10B41/00 - H10B63/00, e.g. ultraviolet erasable-and-programmable ROM [UVEPROM] devices
- H10D 1/00: Resistors, capacitors or inductors
- H10D 30/611: {having multiple independently-addressable gate electrodes influencing the same channel (FinFETs having multiple distinct gate electrodes H10D30/6215; multi-gate TFT H10D30/6733)}
- H10D 30/67: Thin-film transistors [TFT] {(Stacked nanowire, nanosheet or nanoribbon FETs H10D30/501)}
- H10D 30/68: Floating-gate IGFETs
- H10D 30/69: IGFETs having charge trapping gate insulators, e.g. MNOS transistors
- H10N 99/05: {Devices based on quantum mechanical effects, e.g. quantum interference devices or metal single-electron transistors}
- B82Y 15/00: Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing or actuating, e.g. quantum dots as markers in protein assays or molecular motors
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- B82Y: SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- H10B: ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
- H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A nanodevice capable of controlling the state of electric charge of a metal nanoparticle is provided. The device includes: nanogap electrodes 5 including one electrode 5A and the other electrode 5B disposed so as to have a nanosize gap in between; a nanoparticle 7 placed between the nanogap electrodes 5; and a plurality of gate electrodes 9. At least one of the plurality of gate electrodes 9 is used as a floating gate electrode to control the state of electric charge of the nanoparticle 7, which achieves a multivalued memory and rewritable logical operation.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A nanodevice comprising:
nanogap electrodes comprising one electrode and the other electrode so as to have a nanosized gap in between;
a nanoparticle disposed between the nanogap electrodes; and
a plurality of gate electrodes, wherein
at least one of the plurality of gate electrodes is used as a floating gate electrode to control a state of electric charge of the nanoparticle.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein a voltage to be applied to the floating gate falls within a range between a peak state and a bottom state of Coulomb oscillation.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein as a result of the voltage to be applied to the floating gate being divided into a plurality of ranges, a current flowing between the one electrode and the other electrode is made to change in stages.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 3, wherein as the voltage to be applied to the floating gate, either Coulomb oscillation characteristics having a steep gradient or those having a gentle gradient are used.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein a value is set as a potential difference corresponding to input of High and Low of voltage applied to the plurality of gate electrodes, the value corresponds to both ends of one of divisions of voltage difference ΔV between a gate voltage to provide a peak current in Coulomb oscillation for one cycle and a gate voltage to provide a next peak current, the voltage difference ΔV is equally divided into two, three, or four parts.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein the plurality of gate electrodes comprise one or more side gate electrodes existing on a same plane as the nanogap electrodes.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1,
wherein the nanogap electrode and the nanoparticle are covered with an insulation layer; and
the plurality of gate electrodes comprise a side gate electrode and a top gate electrode.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:
a control gate electrode at a position facing the nanoparticle via the floating gate electrode, wherein
as a result of applying a voltage to the control gate electrode, a state of electric charge of the floating gate electrode is made to change, thereby controlling the state of electric charge of the nanoparticle.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the one electrode and the other electrode are disposed facing each other via the nanoparticle;
a side gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as the plurality of gate electrode are disposed facing each other via the nanoparticle; and
a control gate electrode is disposed so as to face the nanoparticle via the floating gate electrode.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 9, wherein
the one electrode, the other electrode, the side gate electrode, the floating gate electrode, and the control gate electrode are disposed on a same plane.

### Claim 11 (depends on 2)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 2, wherein the plurality of gate electrodes comprise one or more side gate electrodes existing on a same plane as the nanogap electrodes.

### Claim 12 (depends on 3)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 3, wherein the plurality of gate electrodes comprise one or more side gate electrodes existing on a same plane as the nanogap electrodes.

### Claim 13 (depends on 4)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 4, wherein the plurality of gate electrodes comprise one or more side gate electrodes existing on a same plane as the nanogap electrodes.

### Claim 14 (depends on 5)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 5, wherein the plurality of gate electrodes comprise one or more side gate electrodes existing on a same plane as the nanogap electrodes.

### Claim 15 (depends on 2)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 2, wherein the nanogap electrode and the nanoparticle are covered with an insulation layer; and
the plurality of gate electrodes comprise a side gate electrode and a top gate electrode.

### Claim 16 (depends on 3)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 3, wherein the nanogap electrode and the nanoparticle are covered with an insulation layer; and
the plurality of gate electrodes comprise a side gate electrode and a top gate electrode.

### Claim 17 (depends on 4)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 4, wherein the nanogap electrode and the nanoparticle are covered with an insulation layer; and
the plurality of gate electrodes comprise a side gate electrode and a top gate electrode.

### Claim 18 (depends on 5)

The nanodevice as set forth in claim 5, wherein the nanogap electrode and the nanoparticle are covered with an insulation layer; and
the plurality of gate electrodes comprise a side gate electrode and a top gate electrode.