A full-featured 2D flash chip enabled by system integration

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer advanced device scalability and novel electronic mechanisms, extending beyond traditional silicon (Si) technology.
• Significant research efforts in academia and industry focus on integrating 2D materials for advanced integrated circuits.
• Existing integration methods for 2D materials and 2D-CMOS hybrids have not yet fully translated device advantages to system-level applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a complete two-dimensional (2D) NOR flash memory chip by integrating advanced 2D electronic devices with a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) platform.
• To present the atomic device to chip (ATOM2CHIP) technology as a framework for bridging the gap between emerging 2D device concepts and practical chip applications.
• To showcase a novel system integration strategy that effectively leverages the benefits of 2D electronic systems.

Main Methods:

• Developed a full-stack on-chip process integrating planar and three-dimensional (3D) architectures with chip packaging for high-yield manufacturing.
• Implemented a cross-platform system design enabling compatibility between 2D circuit design and 2D-CMOS modules.
• Designed a complex, instruction-driven chip featuring 8-bit commands and 32-bit parallelism for comprehensive functionality.

Main Results:

• Successfully realized a full-featured 2D NOR flash memory chip using the ATOM2CHIP technology.
• Achieved a high manufacturing yield of 94.34% through the integrated full-stack on-chip process.
• Demonstrated a highly complex, instruction-driven chip capable of 32-bit parallelism, validating the system integration strategy.

Conclusions:

• The ATOM2CHIP technology provides a complete framework for developing applicable chips from emerging 2D device concepts.
• The developed 2D NOR flash memory chip showcases the potential of 2D electronics for advanced system-level applications.
• This work highlights an efficient system integration strategy that effectively translates the advantages of 2D electronic devices into practical chip performance.