Wiley Lab Develops Spray-On Memory for Digital Storage

USB flash drives are already common accessories in offices and college campuses; but thanks to the rise in printable electronics, digital storage devices like these may soon be everywhere – including on our groceries, pill bottles and even clothing. The Wiley Lab has brought us closer to a future of low-cost, flexible electronics by creating a new “spray-on” digital memory device using only an aerosol jet printer and nanostructure inks. The device, which is analogous to a 4-bit flash drive, is the first fully-printed digital memory that would be suitable for practical use in simple electronics such as environmental sensors or RFID tags. The write speed, or time it takes to switch back and forth between states, is around three microseconds, rivaling the speed of flash drives. Their tests indicate that written information may be retained for up to ten years, and the material can be re-written at least 10,000 times without degrading. Read more on this on Duke Today.