Organic charge-transfer complexes for STM-based thermochemical-hole-burning memory

Data storage using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has attracted great attention because of its nanometer-scale storage capacity. We present an overview of the recent advances and representative achievements of SPM-based data storage from the viewpoints of recording techniques including electrical bistability, photoelectrochemical conversion, field-induced charge storage, atomic manipulation or deposition, local oxidation, magneto-optical or magnetic recording, thermally induced physical deformation or phase change, and so forth. Among new SPM-based data storage schemes, a thermochemical-hole-burning (THB) technique was developed in our group. This review also summarizes our recent achievements in design and synthesis of organic charge-transfer (CT) complexes towards thermochemical-hole-burning memory, the correlation between hole-burning performances and physicochemical properties of CT complexes, the STM tip design and its effects on the hole-burning performance, as well as studies on the data storage mechanism.