Design of an Electrically Written and Optically Read Non-volatile Memory Device Employing BiFeO ₃ /Au Heterostructures with Strong Absorption Resonance

Abstract

Exploiting new concepts for dense, fast, and nonvolatile random access memory with reduced energy consumption is a significant issue for information technology. Here we design an 'electrically written and optically read' information storage device employing BiFeO3/Au heterostructures with strong absorption resonance. The electrooptic effect is the basis for the device design, which arises from the strong absorption resonance in BiFeO3/Au heterostructures and the electrically tunable significant birefringence of the BiFeO3 film. We first construct a simulation calculation of the BiFeO3/Au structure spectrum and identify absorption resonance and electro-optical modulation characteristics. Following a micro scale partition, the surface reflected light intensity of different polarization units is calculated. The results depend on electric polarization states of the BiFeO3 film, thus BiFeO3/Au heterostructures can essentially be designed as a type of electrically written and optically read information storage device by utilizing the scanning near-field optical microscopy technology based on the conductive silicon cantilever tip with nanofabricated aperture. This work will shed light on information storage technology.

Influences on oxidation voltage and holding time on poly(3-methylthiophene) film for electrochromic stability

“…Moreover, compared with other photoelectric materials, EC materials can be controlled by using a smaller voltage and keep the color for a period of time under open circuit condition, showing the memory effect. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Because of the above advantages, EC materials enable various useful applications such as rear-view mirrors, [15,16] information displays, [17,18] smart windows, [19][20][21] and military camouflage. [22,23] In the midst of EC materials, conducting polymers such as polyaniline, [24] polycarbazole, [25] and polythiophene [26] have attracted more and more attentions due to their lots of advantages, which including multicolor capability and fast response time.…”