SBIR Phase I: Electric Field Driven Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory Based on Synthetic Multiferroics

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在开发一种基于合成多铁性的新型磁阻随机存取存储器。今天商业上使用的磁存储器利用电流进行磁化切换。由于开关效率相对较低，大部分消耗的能量都被浪费了。本项目研究了使用合成多铁性材料进行磁化转换的可行性，其中包括压电和磁致伸缩材料。使用多铁性材料的主要优点是能够通过电场控制磁化状态。利用电场而不是电流可以显著降低每个开关的能量。人们迫切需要低功耗的存储设备，这将对各种实际应用有很大的好处，包括无线设备，如蜂窝电话以及其他被便携式能源偏置的设备。这个第一阶段项目的目标是提供电场驱动的磁性存储器的可行性研究。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括在便携式电子设备和系统方面的基本进展，从而实现更低的功耗并在电池充电之前提供更长的运行时间。快速、低功耗多铁存储器的发展有可能最终在市场上取代现有的存储元件。如果成功，该项目将通过提供快速、可扩展和非易失性的存储设备来导致数据存储技术的革命性变化。可以说，低功耗存储器的发展给社会带来了巨大的好处，为各种电子设备提供了更好的性能，并全面降低了电力消耗。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a novel type of Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory based on synthetic multiferroics. Magnetic memory commercially used today exploits an electric current for magnetization switching. The bulk of the consumed energy is wasted due to the relatively low switching efficiency. This project investigates the feasibility of using synthetic multiferroics comprising piezoelectric and magnetostrictive materials for magnetization switching. The key advantage of using multiferroics is the ability to control magnetization state by an electric field. The utilization of electric field instead of electric current makes it possible to significantly reduce the energy per switch. There is an urgent need in low-power consuming memory devices, which would be of great benefit for a variety of practical applications including wireless devices such as cellular phones as well as other devices biased by the portative energy sources. It is the goal of this Phase I project to provide the feasibility study of the electric-field driven magnetic memory.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes fundamental advances in portative electronic devices and systems enabling lower power consumption and providing longer operation before battery recharging. The development of fast and low power consuming multiferroic memory has the potential to eventually replace the existing memory elements in a market. If successful, this project will lead to a revolutionary change in the data storage technology by providing fast, scalable and non-volatile memory devices. It is fair to say that the development of low-power consuming memory is of great benefit for society offering better performance for a variety of electronic devices and the overall reduction of electricity consumption.