UNSW partnership with Strategic Elements converts nanocubes into printable ink

A scientific team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has achieved a breakthrough in nanocube memory technology by effectively converting nanocubes into a printable ink and successfully printing these nanocubes onto a silicon wafer with an ink jet printer.

With this achievement, “nanocube memory ink” has been established as one of the world’s leading printable memory technologies after funding assistance from diversified financials firm, Strategic Elements Ltd.

UNSW said its breakthrough in nanocube memory technology is the first time a nanocube ink has been printed onto silicon. The process developed by UNSW allows an inkjet printer to fabricate thin films using nanocubes. Machine controlled printing allowed the thickness of the nanocube film to become much thinner than ever before.

Strategic Elements confirmed the printed device shows Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) functionality, reports Proactive Investors. The breakthrough positions Strategic Elements at the forefront of the rapidly growing multibillion-dollar printed electronics sector.

“The program has now progressed to fabricating and optimising prototypes prior to testing”, says Strategic Elements.

Nanocube technology encompasses tiny cube-shaped memory cells that have the potential to store mammoth amounts of data on smaller, faster memory devices or chips. The development of nanocube technology can permanently solve the problem of running out of memory on smartphones, laptops, data centres and even on wearable devices.

“Here we are today with a nanocube ink that can actually be printed and even at its earliest form has memory functionality,” said Charles Murphy, Managing Director at Strategic Elements.

He further added that the RRAM memory has remarkable potential for very high performance as compared to current printed memory technologies. The revolutionary nanocube memory technology was developed under licence from UNSW.

Nanocubes are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair. Two trillion nanocubes can fit in an area as small as a postal stamp. This means a single chip can hold two terabytes of data, which is equivalent to 500 hours of High Definition video.

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