Magnetic poles enabled kirigami meta-structure for stable mechanical memory storage with high information density and structural robustness

Abstract Some bi/multi-stable mechanical meta-structures have been implemented as mechanical memory devices which however are with limits such as complex structural forms, low information storage capability and/or fragile structural stability to maintain the stored information bits robustly under external interferences. To address these issues, we refer to the structural intelligence by constructing a simple 3D-printable multi-layered cylindrical kirigami module with gradient structural parameters and propose a mechanical memory device that can robustly store information bits exponentially larger than previous designs. We demonstrate the promising enhancement of information storage capability of our proposed mechanical memory device relies on two mechanisms: (1) the deformation sequences of the kirigami module enabled by the gradient structural parameter, which brings the extra dimensional degree of freedom to break the traditional mechanical memory unit with only planar form and merits information bits with spatially combinatorical programmability, and (2) the combinatorics of the deformation independences among the cylindrical kiriagmi unit arrays in the constructed mechanical memory device. Particularly, we achieve both the structural stabilities and the desired structural robustness in the mechanical memory devices by additively introducing magnetic “N-S” poles in units, which can protect the stored information from interferences like mechanical crushing, impacting and/or shaking.