GOALI: A low-voltage nonvolatile single transistor flash memory device based on ion transport in 2D electrolytes

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The development of electronic devices that operate at lower power could have a huge impact on global energy consumption. One way to decrease the required power is to scale the components to the smallest possible extent, which can be achieved with materials that are a few atomic layers thick. One of the promising two-dimensional (2D) materials is graphene which has a single layer of carbon atoms. In this study, a device is proposed that relies on the movement of ions that are positively or negatively charged to control electron transport in graphene. A novel data storage memory device is proposed that utilizes the strong interaction between ions and graphene. This GOALI proposal addresses the practical challenge of developing low-power devices, and the fundamental study of engineering ion transport at the limits of scaling. The close interaction between the University of Notre Dame and Micron Technology Inc. will serve to guide the effort for the demonstration of a novel low-voltage nonvolatile single transistor flash memory device. Micron Technology Inc. will be involved in mentoring and training the students and will host a student as a summer intern. The graduate and undergraduate students will gain interdisciplinary skills in materials science, chemistry and electrical engineering. The research effort supports an educational component involving case studies in the classroom teaching of graduate and undergraduate students.Fundamental understanding of ion transport in two-dimensional (2D) ion conductors is being explored to enable new concepts for ion doping in 2D crystal transistors and memory. A novel low-voltage, nonvolatile, flash memory concept is proposed based on the electrostatic ion doping of graphene. This device motivates a new set of material requirements for devices and fundamental transport studies. The essential ion transport configuration proposed for the study is a pair of 2D crystal electrodes separated by a 2D solid electrolyte. Lithium ions will shuttle between the 2D crystals by applying an electric field. The transfer of Li+ from one side of the electrolyte to the other will be sensed by the change in electronic conduction in one of the graphene electrodes. To facilitate fast ion transport, the project will focus initially on crown ether phthalocyanine (Pc) molecules, which will be deposited with monolayer precision. Ion and electron transport will be explored in a graphene/crown ether Pc/graphene memory cell at the limits of scaling the thickness. The choice of materials will be driven by the memory application requirement to minimize read/write speed and maximize retention with sub-volt operation. Micron Technology will offer facilities for fabrication of 300nm wafers and characterization of nanoionic devices.