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Ferroelectric tunnel junctions

Beyond the barrier

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 602–604 (2013)Cite this article

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Employing a semiconducting electrode in a ferroelectric tunnel junction boosts the resistance switching effect.

Non-volatile memories, as opposed to volatile ones, allow data to be retained even when not powered. This prominent advantage has made non-volatile memory technologies one of the fastest growing markets with applications ranging from smart phones to industrial robots. A continuing quest for higher storage density, higher write and read speeds, and lower power consumption drives vigorous exploration of new materials, physical principles and operation schemes that can be exploited in non-volatile memories. One of the promising candidates for the new technology is a ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ)1.

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Figure 1: Spontaneous polarization and its readout in a ferroelectric capacitor and in an FTJ.
Figure 2: Schematic band diagram of an FTJ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. E. Y. Tsymbal and A. Gruverman are in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA,

    E. Y. Tsymbal & A. Gruverman

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  1. E. Y. Tsymbal
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  2. A. Gruverman
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Correspondence to E. Y. Tsymbal or A. Gruverman.

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Tsymbal, E., Gruverman, A. Beyond the barrier. Nature Mater 12, 602–604 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3669

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