NER: Nanowire Non-Volatile Memory

NER：纳米线非易失性存储器

• 批准号: 0403494
• 负责人: Supriyo Bandyopadhyay
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: Virginia Commonwealth University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-01 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0403494&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NER; Nanowire; Non; Volatile; Memory

We propose to investigate and develop a new type of non-volatile electronic memory based on a novel conduction bistability observed in regimented arrays of self assembled semiconductor nanowires [Appl. Phys. Lett., 76, 460 (2000)]. The wires have two stable conductance states that differ in conductance by four orders of magnitude at room temperature. These two states can be used to encode binary bits 0 and 1. When a sample is left in the high conductance state at room temperature, it remains in that state for 1 year before reverting to the low conductance state, and when it is left in the low conductance state, it persists in that state for longer than the monitoring period of 1 year. The long retention time may be partially a result of quantum confinement and the phonon bottleneck effect. This system is a promising candidate for non-volatile random access memory with excellent packing density. Apart from the retention time, two important figures of merit for memory devices are the access speed for reading/writing and the dynamic power dissipation during the read/write operation. The measured writing time (the reading time is much smaller) is ~ 2 msec, which we believe can be reduced significantly with appropriate device design. The threshold voltage for switching is a few tens of volt, which too can be reduced significantly using the same design. However, the unavoidable penalty involved in reducing the access time and power dissipation is a concomitant reduction of the retention time. In order to develop a truly advanced memory, these contradictory requirements must be met in an optimal manner which makes this research high risk and exploratory. A secondary purpose of the NER is to identify unequivocally the mechanism responsible for the bistability. Virginia Commonwealth University has an active outreach program involving high school students (the RAPME program for minorities and the QUESTERS program). Students from both programs will be involved in this research (K-12 education). This research will be carried out in collaboration with a group in Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, Russia.

我们建议研究和开发一种新型的非易失性电子存储器，该存储器基于在自组装半导体纳米线的排列阵列中观察到的新型传导双稳态[应用。物理。快报，76, 460 (2000)]。这些导线具有两种稳定的电导状态，在室温下电导率相差四个数量级。这两个状态可用于对二进制位 0 和 1 进行编码。当样品在室温下处于高电导状态时，它会保持该状态 1 年，然后再恢复到低电导状态，而当样品处于室温时，它会保持该状态 1 年。低电导状态，该状态持续时间超过1年的监测时间。较长的保留时间可能部分是量子限制和声子瓶颈效应的结果。该系统是具有出色封装密度的非易失性随机存取存储器的有前途的候选者。除了保留时间之外，存储器件的两个重要品质因数是读/写的访问速度以及读/写操作期间的动态功耗。测得的写入时间（读取时间要小得多）约为 2 毫秒，我们相信通过适当的设备设计可以显着缩短该时间。开关的阈值电压为几十伏，使用相同的设计也可以显着降低。然而，减少访问时间和功耗所带来的不可避免的损失是随之而来的保留时间的减少。为了开发真正先进的记忆，必须以最佳方式满足这些矛盾的要求，这使得这项研究具有高风险和探索性。 NER 的第二个目的是明确确定双稳态的机制。弗吉尼亚联邦大学有一项积极的外展计划，涉及高中生（针对少数群体的 RAPME 计划和 QUESTERS 计划）。这两个项目的学生都将参与这项研究（K-12 教育）。这项研究将与俄罗斯莫斯科库尔恰托夫研究所的一个小组合作进行。