SYSTEM FOR DETECTING ATOMIC OR MOLECULAR SPECTRA OF A SUBSTANCE, AND/OR THRESHOLD PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAME

摘要

By applying a voltage or signal and withdrawing or injecting, an electron or electrons to a layer of material (26, 26'), it is possible to write, erase or read data electrochemically. The layer of material has at least one portion that will reversibly change between charge states in response to the applied voltage or signal and the withdrawal or injection of an electron or electrons. Alternatively, the material of the layer may be such that the portion of the layer of material will dissociate into components in response to the applied voltage or signal and injection or withdrawal of an electron or electrons. The stored data may be read using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) by applying a voltage or signal (40) thereto and detecting the current (i) through, voltage across or signal reflected from the layer to detect the different charge states or structures of different portions of the layer. The signal or voltage (702) applied can be a DC or AC signal, a signal pulse or transient or various combinations thereof. By using a material with more than two charge states or with multiple locations each with different charge states and by applying a signal with and detecting at a single or multiple frequencies, it is possible to write, erase or read multiple bits of information simultaneously.