Jin Hu Wei, Wang Zhihong, Yu Weili, Wu Tom
Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Advanced Nanofabrication Core Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Nat Commun. 2016 Feb 29;7:10808. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10808.
Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have recently attracted considerable interest as a promising candidate for applications in the next-generation non-volatile memory technology. In this work, using an ultrathin (3 nm) ferroelectric Sm0.1Bi0.9FeO3 layer as the tunnelling barrier and a semiconducting Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystal as the bottom electrode, we achieve a tunnelling electroresistance as large as 10(5). Furthermore, the FTJ memory states could be modulated by light illumination, which is accompanied by a hysteretic photovoltaic effect. These complimentary effects are attributed to the bias- and light-induced modulation of the tunnel barrier, both in height and width, at the semiconductor/ferroelectric interface. Overall, the highly tunable tunnelling electroresistance and the correlated photovoltaic functionalities provide a new route for producing and non-destructively sensing multiple non-volatile electronic states in such FTJs.
铁电隧道结（FTJs）作为下一代非易失性存储技术应用的一个有前景的候选者，最近引起了相当大的关注。在这项工作中，我们使用超薄（3纳米）的铁电Sm0.1Bi0.9FeO3层作为隧道势垒，并使用半导体掺杂Nb的SrTiO3单晶作为底部电极，实现了高达10(5)的隧道电阻变化率。此外，FTJ的存储状态可以通过光照进行调制，这伴随着一种滞后的光伏效应。这些互补效应归因于在半导体/铁电体界面处，隧道势垒在高度和宽度上的偏置和光诱导调制。总体而言，高度可调的隧道电阻变化率和相关的光伏功能为在这种FTJs中产生和无损检测多种非易失性电子状态提供了一条新途径。
