CAREER:Novel Nanoelectronic Reconfigurable Synaptic Memory Devices

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Intellectual Merit: The ability to perform low-power, extreme-scale, robust neuromorphic computing, inspired by a biological brain, has eluded the scientific community for a long time. A major roadblock lies in achieving the stringent power vs. area requirement for nanoelectronic devices to implement biologically inspired computational paradigms manifested by biological synapses on a silicon chip. The proposed research aims to develop ultra-low power synaptic memory devices based on doped transition metal oxide that can mimic the transient and steady-state dynamics of a biological synapse. This objective will be accomplished by executing the specific aims including: (1) development of synaptic memory devices based on doped HfO2 stacks, (2) development of bidirectional selector diode, and (3) study of integrated synaptic crossbar networks with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) neurons as well as biological neurons. This research will present a platform device technology to achieve dynamic synaptic response in two-terminal devices fabricated using HfO2 by selective defect engineering through controlled doping, provide a fundamental understanding of the characteristic of defects responsible for synaptic behavior and device models, and extend the application of these device for synaptic computation and learning in neural circuits, neurophysiology, and finally the neuroengineering. The successful completion of this project will have transformative impact towards enabling low-power extreme-scale computing inspired by the massive parallelism of a biological-brain that has been identified as a scientific grand challenge by the US Department of Energy and National Academy of Engineering.Broader Impacts: This project will strengthen collaborations with local small businesses and Semiconductor companies, which will have a significant impact on graduate and undergraduate training, workforce development, transition of research into advanced technology product, and regional economic growth. On educational front, the proposed research will train graduate and undergraduate students in the areas of micro/nano-electronic device fabrication, electrical testing, and data analysis and involve high-school girls in research through summer internship programs. The research findings will be tightly integrated in existing courses at graduate and undergraduate levels, and in the new course titled 'NanoScience for Electronic Era' that will be developed. As a part of this course, a teaching module on memristive devices will be developed with hands-on experiments that will be implemented in relevant courses at the University of Toledo and at Ohio Northern University which is primarily an undergraduate program school, and also made available openly for use at the other universities. The participation of women in engineering will be encouraged through programs like 'Women in Science Day of Meeting (WISDOM)', and participation of other underrepresented groups in engineering will be encouraged by interacting with Toledo Public Schools and programs like 'Engineers for a Day' and 'Excel' at the University of Toledo. To reach out to the underrepresented groups of students (mostly Hispanic) in Ohio's rural communities, the PI will continue her involvement in the course titled 'Using Sustainable Engineering Activities to Teach Science', a distance-learning course that provides professional development and training to the teachers in rural Ohio who then teach mathematics and science to the children of migrant farm workers in Ohio. The results will be promptly disseminated to the scientific community through publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations, and presented to general community through educational TV channel Plugged-In and YouTube videos.