Kalendarium
Thesis defence: Ferroelectric memristors: materials, interfaces and applications
Disputation
Tid:
2024-03-08 09:15
till
13:00
Plats: E-house, E:1406.
Kontakt: robin [dot] atle [at] eit [dot] lth [dot] se
Robin Atle defends his thesis Ferroelectric memristors: materials, interfaces, and applications.
The backbone of modern computing systems rely on two key things: logic and memory, and while computing power has
seen tremendous advancements through scaling of the fundamental building block – the transistor, memory access hasn’t
evolved as rapidly, leading to significant memory-bound systems. Additionally, the rapid evolution of machine learning
and deep neural network (DNN) applications, has exposed the fundamental limitations of the traditional von Neumann
computing architecture, due to its heavy reliance on memory access. The physical separation between the computing unit
and the memory in von Neumann architectures is limiting performance and energy efficiency. A promising solution to
address these challenges is the development of emerging non-volatile memory technologies that provide significant scaling
and integration possibilities, fast switching speeds, and highly energy-efficient operations. Additionally, by integrating
“memory resistors” (memristors) in large crossbar arrays, the computation can take place in-memory which can resolve the
bottleneck in traditional von Neumann architectures.
This thesis investigates the implementation of ferroelectric HfO2 in ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) and ferroelectric
field effect transistors (FeFETs) as potential candidates for emerging non-volatile memories and memristors.
Initially, the thesis focuses on the integration of ferroelectric HfO2 onto the high mobility III-V semiconductor InAs for
the fabrication of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. Moreover, optimization of the processing conditions on the
critical interface between the semiconductor and high-k oxide is extensively studied using both electrical characterization and
synchrotron radiation techniques. After optimization of the annealing treatment and top electrode texturing, the fabrication
of vertical InAs nanowire FeFETs is successfully implemented. The FeFET shows encouraging initial results with limitations
solvable by further process engineering.
Link to thesis i LU Research Portal:
Zoom link. Zoom ID: 63504410836