The Role of Ferroelectric Polarization in Resistive Memory Properties of Metal/Insulator/Semiconductor Tunnel Junctions: A Comparative Study

Enhanced performance of flexible BiFeO3 ferroelectric memory with Mica substrate via SrTiO3 buffer layer

BiFeO3 (BFO) application in flexible wearable devices is garnering interest because of its unique ferroelectric and magnetic properties. However, the integration of high-quality BFO films onto flexible substrates presents significant technical challenges. Here, we successfully fabricated high-quality BFO films on mica substrates by using pulsed laser deposition, and report the fatigue characteristics of BFO films on flexible substrates for the first time. The results demonstrated that, after 108 bipolar switching cycles, the polarization only degraded by 0.28%, indicating superior fatigue characteristics compared to previously reported BFO films. Additionally, the device ferroelectric properties remained largely unchanged, with a bending radius of 3.5 mm. The fabricated flexible Pt/BFO/La0.65Sr0.35MnO3(LSMO)/SrTiO3(STO)/mica non-volatile memory devices exhibited mechanical flexibility and fatigue resistance. These findings not only highlight the potential of flexible BFO films for wearable electronic devices and flexible memory devices, they also provide valuable insight for the future development of high-performance flexible ferroelectric materials.

Giant Electroresistance in Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions via High-Throughput Designs: Toward High-Performance Neuromorphic Computing

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have been regarded as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation devices for data storage and neuromorphic computing owing to their advantages such as fast operation speed, low energy consumption, convenient 3D stack ability, etc. Here, dramatically different from the conventional engineering approaches, we have developed a tunnel barrier decoration strategy to improve the ON/OFF ratio, where the ultrathin SrTiO3 (STO) dielectric layers are periodically mounted onto the BaTiO3 (BTO) ferroelectric tunnel layer using the high-throughput technique. The inserted STO enhances the local tetragonality of the BTO, resulting in a strengthened ferroelectricity in the tunnel layer, which greatly improves the OFF state and reduces the ON state. Combined with the optimized oxygen migration, which can further manipulate the tunneling barrier, a record-high ON/OFF ratio of ∼108 has been achieved. Furthermore, utilizing these FTJ-based artificial synapses, an artificial neural network has been simulated via back-propagation algorithms, and a classification accuracy as high as 92% has been achieved. This study screens out the prominent FTJ by the high-throughput technique, advancing the tunnel layer decoration at the atomic level in the FTJ design and offering a fundamental understanding of the multimechanisms in the tunnel barrier.

The tunneling electroresistance effect in a van der Waals ferroelectric tunnel junction based on a graphene/In2Se3/MoS2/graphene heterostructure

In recent years, α-In2Se3 has attracted great attention in miniaturizing nonvolatile random memory devices because of its room temperature ferroelectricity and atomic thickness. In this work, we construct two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures α-In2Se3/MoS2 with different ferroelectric polarization and design a 2D graphene (Gr)/In2Se3/MoS2/Gr ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) with the symmetric electrodes. Our calculations show that the band alignment of the heterostructures can be changed from type-I to type-II accompanied by the reversal of the ferroelectric polarization of In2Se3. Furthermore, the ferroelectricity persists in Gr/In2Se3/MoS2/Gr vdW FTJs, and the presence of dielectric layer MoS2 in the FTJs enables the effective modulation of the tunneling barrier by altering the ferroelectric polarization of α-In2Se3, which results in two distinct conducting states denoted as "ON" and "OFF" with a large tunneling electroresistance (TER) ratio exceeding 105%. These findings suggest the importance of ferroelectric vdW heterostructures in the design of FTJs and propose a promising route for applying the 2D ferroelectric/semiconductor heterostructures with out-of-plane polarization in high-density ferroelectric memory devices.

High-Speed Nanoscale Ferroelectric Tunnel Junction for Multilevel Memory and Neural Network Computing

Ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) is one promising candidate for next-generation nonvolatile data storage and neural network computing systems. In this work, the high-performance 50 nm-diameter Au/Ti/PbZr_0.52Ti_0.48O₃ (∼3 nm, (111)-oriented)/Nb:SrTiO₃ (Nb: 0.7 wt %) FTJs are achieved to demonstrate the scaling down capability of FTJ. As a nonvolatile memory, the FTJ shows eight distinct resistance states (3 bits) with a large ON/OFF ratio (>10³), and these states can be switched at a fast speed of 10 ns. Intriguingly, the long-term potentiation/depression and spike timing-dependent plasticity, that is, fundamental functions of biological synapses, can be emulated in the nanoscale FTJ-based artificial synapse. A convolutional neural network (CNN) simulation is then carried out based on the experimental results, and a high recognition accuracy of ∼93.8% on fashion product images is obtained, which is very close to the result of ∼94.4% by a floating-point-based CNN software. In particular, the FTJ-based CNN simulation also exhibits robustness to input image noises. These results indicate the great potential of FTJ for high-density information storage and neural network computing.

Unraveling the origin of ferroelectric resistance switching through the interfacial engineering of layered ferroelectric-metal junctions

Ferroelectric memristors have found extensive applications as a type of nonvolatile resistance switching memories in information storage, neuromorphic computing, and image recognition. Their resistance switching mechanisms are phenomenally postulated as the modulation of carrier transport by polarization control over Schottky barriers. However, for over a decade, obtaining direct, comprehensive experimental evidence has remained scarce. Here, we report an approach to experimentally demonstrate the origin of ferroelectric resistance switching using planar van der Waals ferroelectric α-In₂Se₃ memristors. Through rational interfacial engineering, their initial Schottky barrier heights and polarization screening charges at both terminals can be delicately manipulated. This enables us to find that ferroelectric resistance switching is determined by three independent variables: ferroelectric polarization, Schottky barrier variation, and initial barrier height, as opposed to the generally reported explanation. Inspired by these findings, we demonstrate volatile and nonvolatile ferroelectric memristors with large on/off ratios above 10⁴. Our work can be extended to other planar long-channel and vertical ultrashort-channel ferroelectric memristors to reveal their ferroelectric resistance switching regimes and improve their performances.

The mechanism of ferroelectric resistance switching is still under debate. Here, the authors propose an interfacial engineering approach to demonstrate its origin and find that it is governed by three independent variables: polarization, barrier change, and initial barrier.

Piezoelectricity in Excess of 800 pC/N over 400 °C in BiScO3-PbTiO3-CaTiO3 Ceramics

Ultrasonic sensors are widely applied in industries near room temperature; however, their application at high temperature is still a challenge mainly due to the lack of high-performance piezoelectric ceramics. Here, the 0.364BiScO₃-0.636PbTiO₃-0.005CaTiO₃ ceramic exhibits excellent piezoelectric performances at 20-440 °C. Its piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ increases from 475 pC/N at 20 °C to 853 pC/N at 360 °C, and then it gradually decreases to 669 pC/N at 440 °C. Furthermore, the planar electromechanical coupling factor k_p gradually increases from 0.59 at 20 °C to 0.67 at 200 °C, and then it remains at a stable value of 0.65-0.67 at 150-350 °C. These achievements are because the ceramic morphotropic phase boundaries have a flat Gibbs free energy versus polarization curve and a wide temperature range. Since the piezoelectric ceramic shows satisfactory piezoelectric properties at 20-440 °C, the corresponding ultrasonic sensors can in situ monitor many high-temperature devices, such as engines, wheels, drills, boilers, etc.

Low-Temperature Tunneling Electroresistance in Ferromagnetic Metal/Ferroelectric/Semiconductor Tunnel Junctions

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) as artificial synaptic devices are promising candidates for the building block of nonvolatile data storage devices. However, a small ON/OFF ratio of FTJs limits their application in low-temperature operations. In this work, the influence of quantum interference effects on tunneling electroresistance in the La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃/BaTiO₃/Nb:SrTiO₃ (ferromagnetic metal/ferroelectric/semiconductor) FTJ at low temperatures is investigated. The Current-voltage curves are observed in the tunnel junction from 300 to 10 K with a six-unit-cell thick BaTiO₃ film by the ferroelectric polarization effect. First, the ON/OFF current ratio increases from 300 to 30 K due to the increase of polarization in the ferroelectric barrier, and then, it gradually decreases when the temperature drops below 30 K. An anomalous ON/OFF current ratio of ∼10⁵ is obtained at 30 K. The low-temperature tunneling properties in the FTJ are associated with a low-temperature resistivity minimum in the ferromagnetic metal layer by the electron-electron interaction, which increases the La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃/BaTiO₃ interface resistance, leading to a higher resistance state and lower I_OFF for the OFF state. As a result, the ON/OFF current ratio is abruptly enhanced at 30 K. Our results emphasize the crucial role of transport properties of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ in FTJs and pave the way for the design and application of FTJs at low temperatures.

Spin-Filtering Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions as Multiferroic Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing

As nanoelectronic synapses, memristive ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have triggered great interest due to the potential applications in neuromorphic computing for emulating biological brains. Here, we demonstrate multiferroic FTJ synapses based on the ferroelectric modulation of spin-filtering BaTiO₃/CoFe₂O₄ composite barriers. Continuous conductance change with an ON/OFF current ratio of ∼54 400% and long-term memory with the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) of synaptic weight for Hebbian learning are achieved by controlling the polarization switching of BaTiO₃. Supervised learning simulations adopting the STDP results as database for weight training are performed on a crossbar neural network and exhibit a high accuracy rate above 97% for recognition. The polarization switching also alters the band alignment of CoFe₂O₄ barrier relative to the electrodes, giving rise to the change of tunneling magnetoresistance ratio by about 10 times and even the reversal of its sign depending upon the resistance states. These results, especially the electrically switchable spin polarization, provide a new approach toward multiferroic neuromorphic devices with energy-efficient electrical manipulations through potential barrier design. In addition, the availability of spinel ferrite barriers epitaxially grown with ferroelectric oxides also expends the playground of FTJ devices for a broad scope of applications.