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Thinnest Nonvolatile Memory Based on Monolayer h‐BN
Author(s) -
Wu Xiaohan,
Ge Ruijing,
Chen PoAn,
Chou Harry,
Zhang Zhepeng,
Zhang Yanfeng,
Banerjee Sanjay,
Chiang MengHsueh,
Lee Jack C.,
Akinwande Deji
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201806790
Subject(s) - monolayer , materials science , neuromorphic engineering , molybdenum disulfide , nanoelectronics , nanotechnology , scaling , optoelectronics , hexagonal boron nitride , thin film , graphene , computer science , geometry , mathematics , machine learning , artificial neural network , metallurgy
2D materials have attracted much interest over the past decade in nanoelectronics. However, it was believed that the atomically thin layered materials are not able to show memristive effect in vertically stacked structure, until the recent discovery of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) atomristors, overcoming the scaling limit to sub‐nanometer. Herein, the nonvolatile resistance switching (NVRS) phenomenon in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN), a typical 2D insulator, is reported. The h‐BN atomristors are studied using different electrodes and structures, featuring forming‐free switching in both unipolar and bipolar operations, with large on/off ratio (up to 10 7 ). Moreover, fast switching speed (<15 ns) is demonstrated via pulse operation. Compared with monolayer TMDs, the one‐atom‐thin h‐BN sheet reduces the vertical scaling to ≈0.33 nm, representing a record thickness for memory materials. Simulation results based on ab‐initio method reveal that substitution of metal ions into h‐BN vacancies during electrical switching is a likely mechanism. The existence of NVRS in monolayer h‐BN indicates fruitful interactions between defects, metal ions and interfaces, and can advance emerging applications on ultrathin flexible memory, printed electronics, neuromorphic computing, and radio frequency switches.