Starvation effect enables computing and memory functions in semiconductor-free fibres.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42161955.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-73274-y.
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Abstract
Fibre-based switchable devices hold great promise for textile-integrated low-power computing and high-density data storage. However, their development has been hindered by the reliance on semiconductor materials, which demand specialised patterning techniques to achieve nanoscale precision on highly curved fibre surfaces, substantially increasing structural complexity and fabrication cost. Here, two semiconductor-free four-terminal switchable ionic fibres (FSIFs) enabled by a nanoscale-level ion starvation mechanism are presented. This design eliminates the scaling constraints associated with semiconductors, maintaining high device functionality even when feature sizes are relaxed to the sub-millimetre scale. Therefore, the FSIFs are compatible with cost-effective, high-throughput commercial textile manufacturing processes and offer two switching capabilities: binary volatile with a 15:1 ON/OFF ratio at 1 mV and continuous non-volatile with a 2.6:1 ratio between 0.6-1.6 V. These characteristics enable low-power computing, multi-level memory, and extended functions including device control, signal modulation, and neural image recognition, broadening the toolbox for next-generation wearable intelligence.