Abstract: A doping process, including applying pressure to at least one first phase of a semiconductor containing an electrically inactive dopant and removing the pressure to cause at least one phase transformation of the semiconductor to at least one second phase, wherein the at least one phase transformation activates the dopant so that the at least one second phase includes at least one doped phase of the semiconductor in which the dopant is electrically active.

Abstract: A memory device, including a plurality of nanoscale memory cells (1510, 1512) created by applying pressure to and removing pressure from one or more regions (1510, 1512) of a substance (1502) to change the electrical conductivity of those regions (1510, 1512). An electrically conductive read probe (1514) determines the conductivities of the regions and thereby the information stored in the cells. A write probe (1508) applies pressure to and removes pressure from selected cells to change the electrical conductivity of those cells and thereby store or erase information.

Abstract: A patterning process, including applying pressure to and removing pressure from one or more regions of a substance to transform a phase of one or more regions of the substance, the transformed one or more regions having respective predetermined shapes representing a predetermined pattern. The patterning process can be used to form nanoscale patterns in substances without requiring the use of photoresist or conventional optical or electron-beam lithography, thus avoiding the limitations of those techniques.