Anti-ferroelectric materials for non-volatile memory applications

全球对数字数据存储的需求呈指数级增长。IBM估计，地球上每天产生2.5万亿数字数据字节（2.5 x 1018字节= 2.5 Exabytes = 25亿gb）。这种巨大的数字数据存储需求有两个后果：a)数据存储服务器的功耗增加；B)开发数据存储技术以降低成本和功耗来满足日益增长的需求。这些问题促使对固态存储器的研究加速，在几乎所有的消费电子产品和便携式设备中，固态存储器正迅速取代传统的磁性硬盘驱动器。2016年12月和2017年1月，该旅行资助的首席研究员（PI）及其来自爱荷华州立大学的合作研究者首次提出并演示了大块反铁电陶瓷材料中的新型固态记忆效应[1-3]。虽然这是一个非常有希望的发现，但作者指出了一些需要进一步研究的问题，包括一个放松过程，它会严重限制从记忆细胞中恢复的信号。此外，该效应在块状反铁电材料中也可以观察到，而固态存储芯片是基于薄膜的。这项EPSRC海外旅行资助（< 1.5万英镑）旨在通过提供为期五周的旅行，到两个国家的三个海外机构进行反铁电材料的专业实验，并获得关键技能，以促进我们对反铁电材料的理解，并有可能加速这项研究的商业化，从而迅速解决这些问题。通过与西部数据公司（WD）加利福尼亚数据存储技术领域的领先研究人员、爱荷华州立大学（ISU）的反铁电材料物理学以及布加勒斯特国家材料物理研究所（NIMP）的穆斯堡尔光谱专家合作，PI将有机会研究反铁电薄膜中的弛豫过程和记忆效应。此外，PI将获得有价值的新实验技能，例如：反铁电材料的制造及其使用原位透射电子显微镜（ISU）的畴成像，器件结构/固态存储电池测试（WD）和穆斯堡尔光谱（NIMP）。这是一项极具价值的低风险/高收益EPSRC旅行资助，具有巨大的学术、社会和经济影响潜力。[1]。陈晓明，陈晓明，陈晓明，四态反铁电随机存取存储器，电子器件快报（2016）.[10]。陈晓明，陈晓明，陈晓明，反铁电材料的极化逆转和记忆效应，材料工程，vol. 28, 61-64 (2017). bbb10。M. Vopson, Tan X.，反铁电体的非平衡极化动力学，物理学报，96 (1),014104 （2017）

The worldwide demand for digital data storage is increasing exponentially. IBM estimates that 2.5 quintillion of digital data bytes are produced every day on Earth (2.5 x 1018 bytes = 2.5 Exabytes = 2.5 billion Gigabytes). This huge digital data storage demand has two consequences: a) the increased power consumption of data storage servers; b) the perpetual need to develop data storage technologies that meet the increasing demand at reduced cost and power consumption. These issues have prompted the acceleration of research into solid-state memories, which are fast replacing traditional magnetic hard disc drives in almost all consumer electronics and portable devices. In Dec. 2016 and Jan. 2017, the principal investigator (PI) of this travel grant and his co-investigator from Iowa State University, proposed and demonstrated, for the first time, a novel solid-state memory effect in bulk anti-ferroelectric ceramic materials [1-3]. Although this is a very promising discovery, the authors pointed out a few issues that required further investigation, including a relaxation process that significantly limited the signal recovered from a memory cell. In addition, it was acknowledged that the effect was observed in bulk anti-ferroelectric materials, while solid-state memory chips are based on thin films. This modest EPSRC overseas travel grant (< £15k), seeks to swiftly redress these issues by facilitating five weeks travel to three overseas institutions, in two countries, in order to perform specialized experiments on anti-ferroelectric materials and to acquire key skills that will advance our understanding of anti-ferroelectric materials and potentially accelerate the commercialization of this research. By working with leading researchers in the field of data storage technologies at Western Digital (WD) - California, physics of anti-ferroelectric materials at Iowa State University (ISU) and experts in Mossbauer Spectroscopy at the National Institute of Materials Physics (NIMP) in Bucharest, the PI will have the opportunity to study relaxation processes and memory effect in anti-ferroelectric thin films. In addition, the PI will acquire valuable new experimental skills such as: fabrication of anti-ferroelectric materials and their domains imaging using in-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (ISU), device architecture / solid state memory cell testing (WD) and Mossbauer Spectroscopy (NIMP). This is an excellent value for money low-risk / high-gain EPSRC travel grant, with huge potential for academic, societal and economic impacts. [1]. M. Vopson, X. Tan, 4-state anti-ferroelectric random access memory, Electron Device Letters (2016).[2]. M. Vopson, G. Caruntu, X. Tan, Polarization reversal and memory effect in anti-ferroelectric materials, Scripta Materialia vol. 128, 61-64 (2017).[3]. M. Vopson, X. Tan, Nonequilibrium polarization dynamics in antiferroelectrics, Physical Review B 96 (1), 014104 (2017)