Ferroelectric Devices for Intelligent Computing

Abstract

Recently, transistor scaling is approaching its physical limit, hindering the further development of the computing capability. In the post-Moore era, emerging logic and storage devices have been the fundamental hardware for expanding the capability of intelligent computing. In this article, the recent progress of ferroelectric devices for intelligent computing is reviewed. The material properties and electrical characteristics of ferroelectric devices are elucidated, followed by a discussion of novel ferroelectric materials and devices that can be used for intelligent computing. Ferroelectric capacitors, transistors, and tunneling junction devices used for low-power logic, high-performance memory, and neuromorphic applications are comprehensively reviewed and compared. In addition, to provide useful guidance for developing high-performance ferroelectric-based intelligent computing systems, the key challenges for realizing ultrascaled ferroelectric devices for high-efficiency computing are discussed.

A Novel Ferroelectric Rashba Semiconductor

“…Rashba semiconductors (FERSC) have been recently disclosed as a new class of multifunctional materials to enrich electronic and spintronic device technologies. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The unique feature of FERSC is the fundamental breaking of the inversion symmetry caused by a ferroelectric (FE) lattice distortion, which leads to a large spin splitting of the electronic band structure in k-space by the Rashba effect [10,11] (Figure 1a). The direction of the spin polarization, that is, the helicity of the spin texture is locked to the FE polarization.…”

Sub-10 nm HfZrO ferroelectric synapse with multiple layers and different ratios for neuromorphic computing

“…Inspired by the biological nervous system, lots of efforts have been devoted to hardware implementing artificial synapses based on emerging non-volatile memories (eNVM), such as resistance random access memory (RRAM) [4], phase change memory (PCM) [5], ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) and ferroelectric capacitors [6][7][8]. Among these emerging eNVM, HfZrO (HZO) based ferroelectric devices have attracted extensive attention owing to the merits of CMOS process compatibility, outstanding scalability, low power consumption, and tuneable polarization reversal [9][10][11]. With precisely controlling the partial domain switching process, multi-state storage, and synapse emulation are achieved in HZO-based ferroelectric devices [12,13].…”