Review on Physically Flexible Nonvolatile Memory for Internet of Everything Electronics

Abstract

Solid-state memory is an essential component of the digital age. With advancements in healthcare technology and the Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for ultra-dense, ultra-low-power memory is increasing. In this review, we present a comprehensive perspective on the most notable approaches to the fabrication of physically flexible memory devices. With the future goal of replacing traditional mechanical hard disks with solid-state storage devices, a fully flexible electronic system will need two basic devices: transistors and nonvolatile memory. Transistors are used for logic operations and gating memory arrays, while nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices are required for storing information in the main memory and cache storage. Since the highest density of transistors and storage structures is manifested in memories, the focus of this review is flexible NVM. Flexible NVM components are discussed in terms of their functionality, performance metrics, and reliability aspects, all of which are critical components for NVM technology to be part of mainstream consumer electronics, IoT, and advanced healthcare devices. Finally, flexible NVMs are benchmarked and future prospects are provided.

Roll‐to‐Roll (R2R) Production of Ultrasensitive, Flexible, and Transparent Pressure Sensors Based on Vertically Aligned Lead Zirconate Titanate and Graphene Nanoplatelets

“…Hussain and co‐workers reported a high performance and a low‐cost batch fabrication process for PZT‐silicon–based flexible ferroelectric capacitors that can be used for nonvolatile memory applications . Several other similar studies, including flexible graphene‐PZT–based ferroelectric systems, also reveal the importance of ferroelectric materials for memory applications …”

Recommended Methods to Study Resistive Switching Devices

“…[34] Consequently, several NVM devices based on the RS phenomenon have been proposed during the past years, including the resistive random access memory (RRAM) and phase change memory, [26] and they have reached competitive performances compared to mainstream memories (i.e., static RAM, dynamic RAM, NOR and NAND flash) and other emerging memories (i.e., ferroelectric RAM, spin-transfertorque magnetic RAM). [35,36] RS-based NVMs started to be commercialized in 2015 by Panasonic, [37] and Adesto [38] also placed some RS based products in the market. However, despite the great progress achieved, RS-based NVMs are still not sufficiently robust for mass information storage, [26] and for this reason the devices commercially available are still restricted to very specific applications (e.g., controlling sensors [39] ).…”

Enhanced cooling in mono-crystalline ultra-thin silicon by embedded micro-air channels

“…[29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Although thinning down silicon leads to a reduced thermal capacitance and faster heating up and cooling down rate, it does not affect the constant load saturation temperature, which is the temperature achieved under constant load at thermal equilibrium. To address a paradox like performance enhancement and higher power consumption with bulky electronics, and inspired by the world's most energy efficient (20W power consumption) computer -human brain's morphology and its cooling architecture through the nasal cavity and fluidic channels, 36,37 we show an equivalent substrate structure decorated with an embedded deterministic pattern of porous network of vertical micro-channels for air flow.…”