Functional ferroelectric tunnel junctions on silicon

The quest for solid state non-volatility memory devices on silicon with high storage density, high speed, low power consumption has attracted intense research on new materials and novel device architectures. Although flash memory dominates in the non-volatile memory market currently, it has drawbacks, such as low operation speed, and limited cycle endurance, which prevents it from becoming the “universal memory”. In this report, we demonstrate ferroelectric tunnel junctions (Pt/BaTiO(3)/La(0.67)Sr(0.33)MnO(3)) epitaxially grown on silicon substrates. X-ray diffraction spectra and high resolution transmission electron microscope images prove the high epitaxial quality of the single crystal perovskite films grown on silicon. Furthermore, the write speed, data retention and fatigue properties of the device compare favorably with flash memories. The results prove that the silicon-based ferroelectric tunnel junction is a very promising candidate for application in future non-volatile memories.