title: Multicolour fluorescent memory based on the interaction of hydroxy terphenyls with fluoride anions.
abstract: Memory operations based on variation of a molecule's properties are important because they may lead to device miniaturization to the molecular scale or increasingly complex information processing protocols beyond the binary level. Molecular memory also introduces possibilities related to information-storage security where chemical information (or reagents) might be used as an encryption key, in this case, acidic/basic reagents. Chemical memory that possesses both volatile and non-volatile functionality requires reversible conversion between at least two chemically different stable or quasi-stable states. Here we have developed the phenol-phenoxide equilibrium of phenol fluorophores as a data storage element, which can be used to write or modulate data using chemical reagents. The properties of this system allow data to be stored and erased either in non-volatile or volatile modes. We also demonstrate non-binary switching of states made possible by preparation of  a composite containing the molecular memory elements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda Chiba 278-0022 (Japan); WPI-International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan).
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akamatsu
authors.forename: Taizo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ariga
keywords: fluorescence; fluorides; molecular memory; phenols; volatiles