Electrode means, a method for its manufacture, an apparatus comprising the electrode means as well as use of the latter

Abstract

In an electrode means comprising a first and a second thin-film electrode layers (L , L ) with electrodes (&egr;) in the form of parallel strip-like electrical conductors in each layer, the electrodes (&egr;) are provided only separated by a thin film ( ) of an electrically insulating material with a thickness at most a fraction of the width of the electrodes and at least extending along the side edges thereof and forming an insulating wall ( ) therebetween. The electrode layers (L , L ) are planarized to obtain an extremely planar surface. In an apparatus comprising one or more electrode means (EM), the electrode layers (L , L ) of each are mutually oriented with their respective electrodes ( ) crossing at an angle, preferably orthogonally and with a functional medium ( ) provided globally in sandwich therebetween, such that a preferably passive matrix-addressable apparatus is obtained and suited for use as e.g. a matrix-addressable data processing device or matrix-addressable data storage device comprising individually addressable functional elements ( ) in the form of e.g. respectively logic cells or memory cells, the fill factor thereof in the global functional medium ( ) approaching unity and a maximum number of the cells in the apparatus of approximately A/f , wherein A is the area of the global functional medium ( ) sandwiched between the electrode layers (L , L ), and f is a process-constrained minimum feature.