Addressing structure using ionizable gaseous medium

An addressable memory system having multiple data storage elements, comprising:

• a first substrate supporting on a major surface thereof plural nonoverlapping first electrodes that extend in a first direction;
• a second substrate having plural nonoverlapping channels that extend along a major surface thereof in a second direction, each of the channels containing an ionizable gas and having one of plural second electrodes extending along a substantial portion of the length of the channel,
• the first and second substrates being disposed face-to-face and spaced-apart with the first direction transverse to the second direction to define overlapping regions of the first electrodes and the channels;
• a layer of dielectric material positioned between the first and second substrates, the layer of dielectric material and the overlapping regions defining plural data storage elements;
• and
• first means for applying first electrical signals and reference electrical signals to the first electrodes and second means for applying second electrical signals to the second electrodes, the coincident application of the first and second electrical signals to selected ones of the first and second electrodes effecting ionization of the gas associated with a selected storage element defined by the selected ones of the first and second electrodes to develop across the dielectric material a data signal corresponding to the first electrical signal, and the coincident application of the reference electrical signal to the selected first electrode and the absence of the second electrical signal on the selected second electrode, followed by the application of a second electrical signal to the selected second electrode, developing on the first electrodes an output signal that is proportional to the data signal to sense the data signal developed across the dielectric material of the selected storage element.

An addressable electro-optic system having multiple light pattern data storage elements, comprising:

• a first substrate supporting on a major surface thereof plural nonoverlapping first electrodes that extend in a first direction;
• a second substrate having plural nonoverlapping channels that extend along a major surface thereof in a second direction, each of the channels containing an ionizable gas and having one of plural second electrodes extending along a substantial portion of the length of the channel,
• the first and second substrates being disposed face-to-face and spaced-apart with the first direction transverse to the second direction to define overlapping regions of the first electrodes and the channels;
• a layer of material having electro-optical properties positioned between the first and second substrates, the layer of electro-optic material and the overlapping regions defining plural light pattern data storage elements that selectively store an image field and an erase field representing respectively, typically nonuniform and uniform light pattern information carried by the first electrical signals;
• and
• first means for applying first electrical signals to the first electrodes and second means for applying second electrical signals to the second electrodes, the first and second means providing in each of alternating image and erase fields the coincident application of respective first and second electrical signals only once to each of the storage elements to effect ionization of the gas associated with storage elements and change in response to the first electrical signal and the electro-optical properties of the regions of the layer associated with the storage elements, the first electrical signals of the image field and the erase field being of the same polarity and the second electrical signals of the image field comprising a pulse of opposite polarity to that of the first electrical signal, and the second electrical signals of the erase field comprising first and second pulses in immediate succession, the first and second pulses being of, respectively, opposite polarity to and the same polarity as that of the first electrical signal.

An addressing structure for a data element, comprising:

• a data element for storing a data signal datum, the data element comprising a data electrode;
• an ionizable gaseous medium in communication with an electrical reference and the data element;
• ionizing means for selectively effecting ionization of the ionizable gaseous medium to provide an interruptible electrical connection between the data element and the electrical reference, thereby to selectively address the data element;
• and
• sensing means for sensing the datum stored by the data element, the sensing means comprising an amplifier having an output operable to selectively deliver a first signal to the data electrode and an input operable to selectively receive a second signal from the data electrode, the amplifier cooperating with the ionizing means to deliver the first signal to the data electrode during a time when there is no electrical connection between the data element and the electrical reference and to receive the second signal from the data electrode during a time when an electrical connection is first made between data element and the electrical reference, thereby to produce an output signal proportional to the stored data signal.

An addressing structure for a data element, comprising

• an ionizable gaseous medium in communication with an electrical reference and a data element that stores a data signal;
• ionizing means for selectively effecting ionization of the ionizable gaseous medium to provide an interruptible electrical connection between the data element and the electrical reference, thereby to selectively address the data element;
• and
• sensing means for sensing a datum stored by the data element, the sensing means comprising an amplifier having an output operable to selectively deliver a first signal to the data element and an input operable to selectively receive a second signal from the data element, the amplifier cooperating with the ionizing means to deliver the first signal to the data element during a time when there is no electrical connection between the data element and the electrical reference and to receive the second signal from the data element during a time when an electrical connection is first made between the data element and the electrical reference, thereby to produce an output signal proportional to the stored data signal.