Patent ID: 7379324

Claim:
A storage device comprising: a first substrate including a principal surface on which a plurality of parallel row lines are provided; a second substrate including a principal surface on which a plurality of parallel column lines are provided, the principal surface of the first substrate and the principal surface of the second substrate being arranged opposite each other with a gap being provided therebetween and the column lines opposing and intersecting the row lines; particles which are selectively arranged at intersection parts between the row lines and the column lines, each of the particles being movable between one of the row lines and one of the column lines at one of the intersection parts and between adjacent intersection parts; a row decoder which selects one row line of the row lines; a column decoder which selects one column line of the column lines; and a data reading circuit which applies a read voltage to the one row line selected by the row decoder and the one column line selected by the column decoder and which detects current flowing through one intersection part between the selected row line and the selected column line to detect a particle present at the one intersection part, wherein the one intersection part comprises one cell, and the data reading circuit is configured to select a row line and a column line extending through the one intersection part in the cell to detect a current flowing through the one intersection part, and to compare a magnitude of the current with a reference value to determine a stored state of the cell.