No Arabic abstract
Nanogap engineering of low-dimensional nanomaterials, has received considerable interest in a variety of fields, ranging from molecular electronics to memories. Creating nanogaps at a certain position is of vital importance for the repeatable fabrication of the devices. In this work, we report a rational design of non-volatile memories based on sub-5 nm nanogaped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) via the electromechanical motion. The nanogaps are readily realized by electroburning in a partially suspended SWNTs device with nanoscale region. The SWNT memory devices are applicable for both metallic and semiconducting SWNTs, resolving the challenge of separation of semiconducting SWNTs from metallic ones. Meanwhile, the memory devices exhibit excellent performance: ultra-low writing energy (4.1*10-19 J per bit), ON/OFF ratio of 105, stable switching ON operations and over 30 hours retention time in ambient conditions, which are of great potential for applications.
Population of a phononic mode coupled to a single-electron transistor in the sequential tunneling regime is discussed for the experimentally realistic case of intermediate electron-phonon coupling. Features like a sub-Poissonian bosonic distribution are found in regimes where electron transport drives the oscillator strongly out of equilibrium with only few phonon states selectively populated. The electron Fano factor is compared to fluctuations in the phonon distribution, showing that all possible combinations of sub- and super-Poissonian character can be realized.
The deep neural network (DNN) based AI applications on the edge require both low-cost computing platforms and high-quality services. However, the limited memory, computing resources, and power budget of the edge devices constrain the effectiveness of the DNN algorithms. Developing edge-oriented AI algorithms and implementations (e.g., accelerators) is challenging. In this paper, we summarize our recent efforts for efficient on-device AI development from three aspects, including both training and inference. First, we present on-device training with ultra-low memory usage. We propose a novel rank-adaptive tensor-based tensorized neural network model, which offers orders-of-magnitude memory reduction during training. Second, we introduce an ultra-low bitwidth quantization method for DNN model compression, achieving the state-of-the-art accuracy under the same compression ratio. Third, we introduce an ultra-low latency DNN accelerator design, practicing the software/hardware co-design methodology. This paper emphasizes the importance and efficacy of training, quantization and accelerator design, and calls for more research breakthroughs in the area for AI on the edge.
We theoretically study the interplay between electrical and mechanical properties of suspended, doubly clamped carbon nanotubes in which charging effects dominate. In this geometry, the capacitance between the nanotube and the gate(s) depends on the distance between them. This dependence modifies the usual Coulomb models and we show that it needs to be incorporated to capture the physics of the problem correctly. We find that the tube position changes in discrete steps every time an electron tunnels onto it. Edges of Coulomb diamonds acquire a (small) curvature. We also show that bistability in the tube position occurs and that tunneling of an electron onto the tube drastically modifies the quantized eigenmodes of the tube. Experimental verification of these predictions is possible in suspended tubes of sub-micron length.
The experimental observation of quantum phenomena in mechanical degrees of freedom is difficult, as the systems become linear towards low energies and the quantum limit, and thus reside in the correspondence limit. Here we investigate how to access quantum phenomena in flexural nanomechanical systems which are strongly deflected by a voltage. Near a metastable point, one can achieve a significant nonlinearity in the electromechanical potential at the scale of zero point energy. The system could then escape from the metastable state via macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT). We consider two model systems suspended atop a voltage gate, namely, a graphene sheet, and a carbon nanotube. We find that the experimental demonstration of the phenomenon is currently possible but demanding, since the MQT crossover temperatures fall in the milli-Kelvin range. A carbon nanotube is suggested as the most promising system.
The effects of a turnstile operation on the current-induced vibron dynamics in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are analyzed in the framework of the generalized master equation. In our simulations each turnstile cycle allows the pumping of up to two interacting electrons across a biased mesoscopic subsystem which is electrostatically coupled to the vibrational mode of a nanoresonator. The time-dependent mean vibron number is very sensitive to the turnstile driving, rapidly increasing/decreasing along the charging/discharging sequences. This sequence of heating and cooling cycles experienced by the nanoresonator is due to specific vibron-assisted sequential tunneling processes along a turnstile period. At the end of each charging/discharging cycle the nanoresonator is described by a linear combination of vibron-dressed states $s_{ u}$ associated to an electronic configuration $ u$. If the turnstile operation leads to complete electronic depletion the nanoresonator returns to its equilibrium position, i.e.,its displacement vanishes. It turns out that a suitable bias applied on the NEMS leads to a slow but complete cooling at the end of the turnstile cycle. Our calculations show that the quantum turnstile regime switches the dynamics of the NEMS between vibron-dressed subspaces with different electronic occupation numbers. We predict that the turnstile control of the electron-vibron interaction induces measurable changes on the input and output transient currents.