Patent ID: 7709880

Claim:
A non-volatile nanotube transistor device, comprising: a source region and a drain region each in electrical communication with a respective terminal; a channel region disposed between the source region and the drain region; a gate structure disposed over the channel region and having a release structure, a switch plate disposed above the channel region, a nanotube switching element disposed between the release structure and the switch plate, a first control terminal in electrical communication with the release structure and a second control terminal in electrical communication with the nanotube switching element; wherein the nanotube switching element is responsive to electrical stimulus on the first control terminal and the second control terminal so that the nanotube switching element is capable of being electromechanically deflected into a first non-volatile positional state corresponding to a closed electrical communication path between the nanotube switching element and the switch plate and is capable of a second, substantially non-deflected, nonvolatile positional state corresponding to an open electrical communication path between the nanotube switching element and the switch plate; and wherein, when the nanotube element is in the first positional state corresponding to a closed electrical communication path between the nanotube switching element and the switch plate, the device is responsive to electrical stimulus on at least the second control terminal and the terminal corresponding to the source, and the second control terminal is a gate electrode capable of inducing the channel region to form a conductive path between the source region and the drain region.