Fullerene Shuttle Memory Device Based on Nanopeapod: Classical Molecular Dynamics Study

We studied the energetics and the operations of a fullerene shuttle memory element based on a carbon nanopeapod using classical molecular dynamics simulations. The system proposed in this report was composed of a (10, 10) carbon nanotube, three C₆₀'s and two copper electrodes encapsulated in (10, 10) carbon nanotube. Since the lowest energy configurations were found in the both ends terminated by C₆₀'s attached at copper electrodes, the interactions between C₆₀'s stabilized the shuttle fullerene at the both ends of the proposed system. Therefore, the bit flops could be classified with both the position of the shuttle media and the potential energy of the system. Molecular simulation results showed that the switching speed, the applied force field, and the active region should be considered to design the proposed system. This paper shows a probability of a memory element based on carbon nanopeapods in the nanometer ranges.