Thread: What is the purpose of the use of transition metal as gates in NAND flash memory ? Ir,Hf,Pt...

Hi, (sorry for my english btw)

I'm doing this work in a course about transition metal. I'm studying chemistry and i know a very little about physics. I have to present an application of transition metal and i chose the NAND flash memory. I began reading few articles about Al and Pt gates and I was wondering what are the properties exploited here?
So, I'm trying to know why we would use a transition metal rather than Si or Pb ? (I know Al has no e- in its d orbital)
I also found some articles about IrO and TaN metal gates and some Hf nanocrystal etc.

What are the transition metal's properties exploited for the use of NAND flash memory ?

The transition metals are used to make memristors. These are resistors which increase in resistance when current travels one way through the material, decreases the other way, and 'saves' the level of resistance when there is no current. The ramifications of technological breakthroughs are still being explored, but non-volatile, solid state memory is the application being developed right now.

As to why a transition metal, I'm afraid the application is really new and was not covered in my materials engineering course, so I'm not sure what is it about the transition metal that allows it this property.