GeTe/MoTe₂ Van der Waals Heterostructures: Enabling Ultralow Voltage Memristors for Nonvolatile Memory and...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nanoelectronics

Background:

• Advanced electronic semiconducting Van der Waals heterostructures (HSs) offer unique properties for next-generation nanoelectronics.
• Exploring novel heterostructures is crucial for advancing memory and computing technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate GeTe/MoTe2 heterostructures for nonvolatile memory and neuromorphic computing applications.
• To fabricate and characterize Ag/GeTe/MoTe2/Pt HS cross-point devices for their memristive properties.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of Ag/GeTe/MoTe2/Pt HS cross-point devices using sputtering.
• Characterization of memristor behavior, including switching voltages, energy consumption, retention, and endurance.
• Analysis using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and conductive atomic force microscopy.
• Emulation of synaptic functions and implementation of a multilayer perceptron.

Main Results:

• Devices demonstrated memristor behavior at ultralow switching voltages (VSET: 0.15 V, VRESET: -0.14 V) with low energy consumption (≈30 nJ).
• Achieved high memory window, long retention time (10^4 s), and excellent endurance (10^5 cycles).
• Confirmed the formation of a conducting filament via TEM and C-AFM.
• Successfully emulated synaptic functions and achieved 81.3% pattern accuracy in a multilayer perceptron.

Conclusions:

• GeTe/MoTe2 HS exhibit excellent performance for nonvolatile memory and neuromorphic computing.
• The devices offer a potential solution for energy-efficient, high-density memory and artificial intelligence applications.