The present invention generally relates to nanotechnology and sub­microelectronic devices that can be used in circuitry and, in some cases, to nanoscale wires and other nanostructures able to encode data. One aspect of the invention provides a nanoscale wire or other nanostructure having a region that is electrically-polarizable, for example, a nanoscale wire may comprise a core and an electrically-polarizable shell. In some cases, the electrically-polarizable region is able to retain its polarization state in the absence of an external electric field. All, or only a portion, of the electrically­polarizable region may be polarized, for example, to encode one or more bits of data. In one set of embodiments, the electrically-polarizable region comprises a functional oxide or a ferroelectric oxide material, for example, BaTiO 3 , lead zirconium titanate, or the like. In some embodiments, the nanoscale wire (or other nanostructure) may further comprise other materials, for example, a separation region separating the electrically­polarizable region from other regions of the nanoscale wire. For example, in a nanoscale wire, one or more intermediate shells may separate the core from the electrically­polarizable shell.