Semiconductor industry calls for emerging memory, demonstrating high speed (like SRAM or DRAM), nonvolatility (like Flash NAND), high endurance and density, good scalability, reduced energy consumption and reasonable cost. Ferroelectric memory FRAM has been considered as one of the emerging memory technologies for over 20 years. FRAM uses polarization switching that provides low power consumption, nonvolatility, high speed and endurance, robust data retention, and resistance to data corruption via electric, magnetic fields and radiation. Despite the advantages, market share held by FRAM manufacturers is insignificant due to scaling challenges. State-of-the-art FRAM manufacturing is studied in this paper. Ferroelectric capacitors and memory cells made by main commercial FRAM manufactures (Texas Instruments, Cypress Semiconductor, Fujitsu и Lapis Semiconductor) are explored. All memory cells are based on the lead zirconate titanate PZT capacitor with the thickness of about 70 nm and IrOx/Ir or Pt electrodes. The leading FRAM technology remains the 130 nm node CMOS process developed at Texas Instruments fabs. New approaches to further scaling and new devices based on ferroelectrics are reviewed, including binary ferroelectrics deposited by ALD techniques, piezoelectronic transistors, ferroelectric/2D-semiconductor transistor structures, and others. Whether FRAM technology will be able to resolve one of the main contradictions between a high-speed processor and a relatively slow nonvolatile memory depends on the success of the new technologies integration.
Titania (TiO2) is a widely used semiconductor for the photocatalytic decomposition of organic impurities in air, water and the conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbon fuel precursors. TiO2 in the form of nanotubes arrays is the most attractive for practical use because of the morphological advantages providing more favorable diffusion of photocatalytic reaction products and a low recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes. We have carried out a comparative study of the photocatalytic activity of gas-phase conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbon products and the defect properties of multi-walled and single-walled arrays of TiO2 nanotubes. Methanol and methane have been detected in the CO2 photoreduction process. The photocatalytic evolution rate of multi-walled TiO2 nanotubes is twice as fast for methane as for single-walled TiO2 nanotubes after four hours of irradiation and four times faster for methanol. The type and features of the structural defects have been investigated by EPR spectroscopy. For the first time, it has been shown that Ti3+/oxygen vacancy centers are mainly located inside the outer layer of nanotubes, while carbon dangling bonds have been observed directly on the surface of the inner layer. Carbon defects have been found to be the centers of adsorption and accumulation of photoinduced charge carriers. The results are entirely new; they clarify the role of different types of defects in the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbon compounds and show good prospects for applying TiO2 nanotube arrays.
The arrays of metallic nanowires are considered as promising precursors for 1D semiconductor nanostructures after appropriate treatment at temperatures close to the melting point. Therefore the melting behaviour of the metallic structures in oxide templates is a key parameter for the subsequent conversion process. The present paper focuses on understanding of the effect of mechanical stress generated during heating on the melting point of the metal nanowires deposited into the pores of anodic alumina. Extremely high local compressive stress appears due to the difference in the thermal coefficients of the oxide template and nanowires inside the pores. The effect of the composite structural parameter that may be related to the concentration of nanowires on the melting temperature has been investigated. A numerical model predicting the melting point has been developed for composites with indium, tin, and zinc nanowires. The simulation results obtained using the suggested model were compared with the experimental data.
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