Incipient ferroelectricity; superlubricity for memory; growing TMDs.
Researchers from Penn State University and the University of Minnesota propose harnessing incipient ferroelectricity in multifunctional two-dimensional FETs to create neuromorphic computer memory. Materials with incipient ferroelectricity have no stable ferroelectric order at room temperature and need certain conditions to achieve an electrical charge. The FETs were made up of strontium titanate thin films combined with molybdenum disulfide.
“The main goal of the project was to explore whether incipient ferroelectricity, usually seen as a disadvantage because it leads to short memory retention, could actually be useful,” said Saptarshi Das, professor of engineering and professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, in a press release. “In cryogenic conditions, this material exhibited traditional ferroelectric-like behavior suitable for memory applications. But at room temperature, this property behaved differently. It had this relaxor nature.”
The less predictable and more fluid behavior gives incept ferroelectricity potential for use in neuromorphic computing. “These devices acted like neurons, mimicking biological neural behavior,” said Mayukh Das, doctoral candidate in engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, in a press release. “To test this, we performed a classification task using a grid of three-by-three pixel images fed into three artificial neurons. The devices were able to classify each image into different categories. This learning method could eventually be used for image identification and classification or pattern recognition. Importantly, it works at room temperature, reducing energy costs. These devices function similarly to the nervous system, acting like neurons and creating a low-cost, efficient computing system that uses a lot less energy.” [1]
Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Japan’s National Institute for Material Science developed a two-atom-thick, nearly frictionless layer that could be used to improve the performance of memory components. The approach takes advantage of a phenomenon called superlubricity, in which layers of certain atomic materials are somewhat misaligned. This misalignment prevents the atoms from synchronizing, dramatically reducing friction.
The team used ultrathin atomic layers of boron and nitrogen that were separated by a perforated graphene layer with holes just 100 atoms wide. Within the nano-sized holes, the boron and nitrogen layers self-align, but the unsynchronized graphene layer enabled friction to disappear between these islands.
“Our measurements show that the efficiency of this new memory technology is significantly higher than existing technologies, with zero wear and tear. Beyond this, the new memory arrays reveal an intriguing effect: when the tiny islands are close to one another, atomic motion in one island influences neighboring islands. In other words, the system can self-organize into coupled memory states, a phenomenon that could lead to groundbreaking advancements in computing, including artificial intelligence and neuromorphic architectures,” said Moshe Ben Shalom, a professor in the School of Physics & Astronomy at Tel Aviv University, in a statement.
The researchers founded a company, SlideTro, to commercialize the technology. Future research aims to explore new computational possibilities through mechanical coupling between memory bits. [2]
Researchers at Seoul National University, Sogang University, Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology developed a new synthesis technology for growing wafer-scale single-crystal 2D semiconductors.
The approach, called Hypotaxy, grows transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) by using other 2D materials such as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride as templates to guide TMD crystal alignment and enables the synthesis of single-crystalline TMD films on any substrate. It works at comparatively low temperatures of 400°C, making it compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing processes.
The graphene template naturally disappears without requiring a post-removal process, and the thickness of the metal film can be precisely controlled to regulate the number of TMD layers. The researchers also found that devices fabricated using TMDs made with the method had high charge carrier mobility and device uniformity.
The team is working to apply the technique to synthesizing moiré structures and other materials that are challenging to create in large-scale formats. [3]
[1] Sen, D., Ravichandran, H., Das, M. et al. Multifunctional 2D FETs exploiting incipient ferroelectricity in freestanding SrTiO3 nanomembranes at sub-ambient temperatures. Nat Commun 15, 10739 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54231-z
[2] Yeo, Y., Sharaby, Y., Roy, N. et al. Polytype switching by super-lubricant van der Waals cavity arrays. Nature 638, 389–393 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08380-2
[3] Moon, D., Lee, W., Lim, C. et al. Hypotaxy of wafer-scale single-crystal transition metal dichalcogenides. Nature 638, 957–964 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08492-9
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