Nonvolatile and reconfigurable two-terminal electro-optic duplex memristor based on III-nitride semiconductors

Abstract

With the fast development of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IOT), etc, there is an urgent need for the technology that can efficiently recognize, store and process a staggering amount of information. The AlScN material has unique advantages including immense remnant polarization, superior temperature stability and good lattice-match to other III-nitrides, making it easy to integrate with the existing advanced III-nitrides material and device technologies. However, due to the large band-gap, strong coercive field, and low photo-generated carrier generation and separation efficiency, it is difficult for AlScN itself to accumulate enough photo-generated carriers at the surface/interface to induce polarization inversion, limiting its application in in-memory sensing and computing. In this work, an electro-optic duplex memristor on a GaN/AlScN hetero-structure based Schottky diode has been realized. This two-terminal memristor shows good electrical and opto-electrical nonvolatility and reconfigurability. For both electrical and opto-electrical modes, the current on/off ratio can reach the magnitude of 104, and the resistance states can be effectively reset, written and long-termly stored. Based on this device, the “IMP” truth table and the logic “False” can be successfully reproduced, indicating the huge potential of the device in the field of in-memory sensing and computing.