Three trace electromechanical circuits and methods of using same are described.
A circuit includes first and second electrically conductive elements with a nanotube
ribbon (or other electromechanical elements) disposed therebetween. The nanotube
ribbon is movable toward at least one of the first and second electrically conductive
elements in response to electrical stimulus applied to at least one of the first
and second electrically conductive elements and the nanotube ribbon. Such circuits
may be formed into arrays of cells. The upper and lower electrically conductive
traces may be aligned or unaligned vertically. An electrical stimulus may be applied
to at least one of the first and second electrically conductive elements and the
nanotube ribbon to move the nanotube ribbon toward at least one of the first and
second electrically conductive elements. Electrical signals from at least one the
first and second electrically conductive elements and the nanotube ribbon may be
sensed to determine the electrical state of the cell. The states may be assigned
in a variety of ways. For example, if the ribbon is moved toward the first electrically
conductive element, the electrical state is a first state; if the ribbon is moved
toward the second electrically conductive element, the electrical state is a second
state; and if the ribbon is between the first and second electrically conductive
elements, the electrical state is a third state. The first, second, and third states
each corresponds to a different information encoding. Or, electrical stimulus may
be applied to both the first and second electrically conductive elements so that
the first and second electrically conductive elements both cause the movement of
the nanotube ribbon. Or, the first and second electrically conductive elements
are used in a fault tolerant manner.
