Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > New prospects for universal memory -- high speed of RAM and the capacity of flash: Thin films created at MIPT could be the basis for future development of ReRAM

(From left) Dmitry Kuzmichev, Konstantin Egorov, Andrey Markeev, and Yury Lebedinskiy posing next to the atomic layer deposition apparatus at the Center of Shared Research Facilities, MIPT
CREDIT
MIPT's Press Office
(From left) Dmitry Kuzmichev, Konstantin Egorov, Andrey Markeev, and Yury Lebedinskiy posing next to the atomic layer deposition apparatus at the Center of Shared Research Facilities, MIPT CREDIT MIPT's Press Office

Abstract:
Researchers from MIPT's Center of Shared Research Facilities have found a way to control oxygen concentration in tantalum oxide films produced by atomic layer deposition. These thin films could be the basis for creating new forms of nonvolatile memory. The paper was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, which has an impact factor of 7.14.

New prospects for universal memory -- high speed of RAM and the capacity of flash: Thin films created at MIPT could be the basis for future development of ReRAM

Moscow, Russia | Posted on June 17th, 2017

Want nonvolatile memory that's fast as RAM and has the capacity of flash?

Because data storage and processing solutions are so central to modern technology, many research teams and companies are pursuing new types of computer memory. One of their major goals is to develop universal memory -- a storage medium that would combine the high speed of RAM with nonvolatility of a flash drive.

A promising technology for creating such a device is resistive switching memory, or ReRAM. It works by changing the resistance across a memory cell as a result of applied voltage. Since each cell has a high- and a low-resistance state, it can be used to store information, e.g., in the form of zeros and ones.

A ReRAM cell can be realized as a metal-dielectric-metal structure. Oxides of transition metals such as hafnium and tantalum have proved useful as the dielectric component of this layered structure. Applying voltage to a memory cell that is based on these materials causes oxygen migration, changing its resistance. This makes the distribution of oxygen concentration in the oxide film a crucial parameter determining the functional properties of the memory cell.

However, despite significant advances in ReRAM development, flash memory shows no sign of losing ground. The reason for this is that flash memory allows for three-dimensional memory cell stacking, which enables a much greater storage density. In contrast to this, oxygen-deficient film deposition techniques normally used in ReRAM design are not applicable to functional 3-D architectures.

That's where atomic layer deposition comes in

In a bid to find an alternative technique, MIPT researchers turned to atomic layer deposition, a chemical process by which thin films can be produced on the surface of a material. During the last decade, ALD has become increasingly widespread, with numerous applications in nanoelectronics, optics, and the biomedical industry. There are two major advantages to atomic layer deposition. The first one is the unprecedented control over film thickness: It is possible to deposit films that are several nanometers thick with an error of a fraction of a nanometer. The other advantage is that ALD enables conformal coating of 3-D structures, which is problematic for most of the currently used nanofilm deposition techniques.

In an ALD process, a substrate is sequentially exposed to two chemicals that are known as the precursor and the reactant. It is the chemical reaction between these two substances that produces a coating layer. In addition to the element used in the coating, precursors contain other compounds -- e.g., of carbon or chlorine -- called ligands. They facilitate the reaction but, in an ideal ALD process, have to be completely removed from the resulting film once the interaction with the other chemical (reactant) has occurred. It is vital to choose the right substances for use in atomic layer deposition. Although it proves difficult to deposit oxide films with variable oxygen concentration by ALD, they are essential for ReRAM.

"The hardest part in depositing oxygen-deficient films was finding the right reactants that would make it possible to both eliminate the ligands contained in the metallic precursor and control oxygen content in the resulting coating," says Andrey Markeev, who holds a PhD in physics and mathematics and is a leading researcher at MIPT. "We achieved this by using a tantalum precursor, which by itself contains oxygen, and a reactant in the form of plasma-activated hydrogen." Confirming the experimental findings turned out to be a challenge in itself. As soon as the experimental sample is removed from the vacuum chamber, which houses it during ALD, and exposed to the atmosphere, this causes modifications in the top layer of the dielectric, making it impossible to detect oxygen deficiency using analytic techniques such as electron spectroscopy, which target the surface of the sample.

"In this study, we needed not just to obtain the films containing different amounts of oxygen but also to confirm this experimentally," says Konstantin Egorov, a PhD student at MIPT. "To do this, our team worked with a unique experimental cluster, which allowed us to grow films and study them without breaking the vacuum."

###

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 14-19-01645 and MIPT's 5-100 Program under the Russian Academic Excellence Project. The researchers made use of the sophisticated scientific equipment for research in the field of nanotechnology, provided by MIPT's Center of Shared Research Facilities.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Asya Shepunova

7-916-813-0267

Copyright © Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

RELATED JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Related News Press

News and information

Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024

NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024

Innovative sensing platform unlocks ultrahigh sensitivity in conventional sensors: Lan Yang and her team have developed new plug-and-play hardware to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of optical sensors April 5th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

Good as gold - improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles April 5th, 2024

Thin films

Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024

Understanding the mechanism of non-uniform formation of diamond film on tools: Paving the way to a dry process with less environmental impact March 24th, 2023

New study introduces the best graphite films: The work by Distinguished Professor Feng Ding at UNIST has been published in the October 2022 issue of Nature Nanotechnology November 4th, 2022

Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy

NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Possible Futures

Innovative sensing platform unlocks ultrahigh sensitivity in conventional sensors: Lan Yang and her team have developed new plug-and-play hardware to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of optical sensors April 5th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

A simple, inexpensive way to make carbon atoms bind together: A Scripps Research team uncovers a cost-effective method for producing quaternary carbon molecules, which are critical for drug development April 5th, 2024

With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024

Chip Technology

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024

HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024

Electrons screen against conductivity-killer in organic semiconductors: The discovery is the first step towards creating effective organic semiconductors, which use significantly less water and energy, and produce far less waste than their inorganic counterparts February 16th, 2024

Memory Technology

Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024

Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023

Researchers discover materials exhibiting huge magnetoresistance June 9th, 2023

Rensselaer researcher uses artificial intelligence to discover new materials for advanced computing Trevor Rhone uses AI to identify two-dimensional van der Waals magnets May 12th, 2023

Discoveries

A simple, inexpensive way to make carbon atoms bind together: A Scripps Research team uncovers a cost-effective method for producing quaternary carbon molecules, which are critical for drug development April 5th, 2024

Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024

New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024

Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024

Announcements

NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024

Innovative sensing platform unlocks ultrahigh sensitivity in conventional sensors: Lan Yang and her team have developed new plug-and-play hardware to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of optical sensors April 5th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

A simple, inexpensive way to make carbon atoms bind together: A Scripps Research team uncovers a cost-effective method for producing quaternary carbon molecules, which are critical for drug development April 5th, 2024

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024

Innovative sensing platform unlocks ultrahigh sensitivity in conventional sensors: Lan Yang and her team have developed new plug-and-play hardware to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of optical sensors April 5th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

A simple, inexpensive way to make carbon atoms bind together: A Scripps Research team uncovers a cost-effective method for producing quaternary carbon molecules, which are critical for drug development April 5th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project