Carbon filament memory and fabrication method

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

a memory element that comprises a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material;

the memory element storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

4. A memory element comprising:

a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material;

the memory element storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material.

5. The memory element of claim 4 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

6. The memory element of claim 4 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

7. The memory element of claim 4 , wherein the second carbon layer has a thickness of 5 nm or less.

8. The memory element of claim 4 , farther comprising a select transistor coupled to the carbon layer system.

9. The memory element of claim 4 , wherein the carbon layer system stores multiple bits of information.

10. The memory element of claim 9 , wherein different resistance states of the carbon layer system are used to store the multiple bits of information.

11. The memory element of claim 4 , wherein application of a first current through the carbon layer system causes formation of the conductive channel.

12. The memory element of claim 11 , wherein application of a second current, having a reversed polarity with respect to the first current, causes reduction of the conductive channel.

13. An integrated circuit comprising:

a memory element that comprises a carbon layer system, comprising a first carbon layer, having a first resistance R 1 , and a second carbon layer, having a second resistance R 2 , such that a ratio R 2 /R 1 is greater than 100.

14. A computing system comprising:

an input apparatus;

an output apparatus;

a processing apparatus; and

a memory, said memory comprising a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material, wherein information can be stored in the memory by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material.

15. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

16. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

17. A memory module comprising:

a multiplicity of integrated circuits, wherein each integrated circuit of the multiplicity of integrated circuits comprises a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material, the carbon layer system storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material.

18. The memory module of claim 17 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

19. The memory module of claim 17 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

20. The memory module of claim 17 , wherein the memory module is stackable.

21. A system comprising:

a system memory;

a processor;

an integrated circuit memory device, the integrated circuit memory device comprising a controller that interfaces the integrated circuit memory device to a bus, and a non-volatile memory comprising a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material, the carbon layer system storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material; and

the bus that interconnects the system memory, the processor, and the integrated circuit memory device.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

24. The system of claim 21 , wherein the non-volatile memory stores software that emulates a mass storage device.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the controller intercepts a system boot process and installs the software that emulates the mass storage device from the non-volatile memory to the system memory.

26. The system of claim 21 , wherein the non-volatile memory stores software and data that are frequently used by the system.

27. The system of claim 21 , wherein the non-volatile memory stores portions of operating system software for the system.

28. The system of claim 21 , wherein the non-volatile memory is block-oriented.

29. A hybrid mass storage system comprising:

a non-volatile memory comprising a memory element that comprises a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material, the memory element storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material; and

a second mass storage medium.

30. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the first carbon material comprises sp 2 hybridized amorphous carbon.

31. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the second carbon material comprises sp 3 hybridized amorphous carbon.

32. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the second mass storage medium comprises a hard disk drive.

33. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the second mass storage medium comprises an optical drive.

34. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the non-volatile memory has a faster access time than the second mass storage medium.

35. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the non-volatile memory uses less power than the second mass storage medium.

36. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the non-volatile memory is block-oriented.

37. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , wherein the non-volatile memory and the second mass storage medium are contained in a disk drive device.

38. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 29 , further comprising a controller coupled to the non-volatile memory and the second mass storage medium, the controller selectively directing access requests to the non-volatile memory and the second mass storage medium.

39. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 38 , wherein the controller selectively directs access requests to the non-volatile memory and the second mass storage medium based on an address of the request.

40. The hybrid mass storage system of claim 39 , wherein the controller uses an address mapping to selectively direct access requests.

41. A hard disk drive device comprising:

a hard disk storage medium;

a non-volatile memory comprising a memory element that comprises a carbon layer system comprising a first carbon layer rich in a first carbon material and a second carbon layer rich in a second carbon material, the memory element storing information by reversibly forming a conductive channel in the second carbon layer, the conductive channel comprising the first carbon material; and

a controller coupled to the hard disk storage medium and the non-volatile memory, the controller selectively directing access requests to the non-volatile memory and second mass storage medium based on a requested address.

42. The hard disk drive device of claim 41 , wherein the controller is integrated with a hard disk controller.

43. The hard disk drive device of claim 41 , wherein the non-volatile memory is block-oriented.

44. The hard disk drive device of claim 41 , wherein the non-volatile memory has a faster access time than the hard disk storage medium.