  Performance improvements are expected from integration of photonic devices
into information processing systems, and in particular, all-optical memories
provide a key functionality. Scaling down the size of memory elements is
desirable for high-density integration, and the use of nanomaterials would
allow for devices that are significantly smaller than the operation
wavelengths. Here we report on all-optical memory based on individual carbon
nanotubes, where adsorbed molecules give rise to optical bistability. By
exciting at the high-energy tail of the excitonic absorption resonance,
nanotubes can be switched between the desorbed state and the adsorbed state. We
demonstrate reversible and reproducible operation of the nanotube optical
memory, and determine the rewriting speed by measuring the molecular adsorption
and desorption times. Our results underscore the impact of molecular-scale
effects on optical properties of nanomaterials, offering new design strategies
for photonic devices that are a few orders of magnitude smaller than the
optical diffraction limit.
