ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the principles and materials of organic thin-film memory devices. The operation is based on the electrical bistability of an organic thin film. The device consists of a film containing conjugated organic compounds and metal nanoparticles sandwiched between two metal electrodes. It can be switched electrically between two conductivity states, and can remain in either state for a long period even when there is no external power supply. Such a device can be used as a nonvolatile digital memory, where the high and low conductivity states are defined as “1” and “0” respectively. The mechanism is related to charge storage in the metal nanoparticles.
