Publications Details

Nonvolatile electrochemical memory at 600°C enabled by composition phase separation

Li, Jingxian; Jalbert, Andrew J.; Lee, Sangyong; Simakas, Leah S.; Geisler, Noah J.; Watkins, Virgil J.; Cline, Laszlo A.; Fuller, Elliot J.; Talin, Albert A.; Li, Yiyang

Silicon-based microelectronics are limited to ∼150°C and therefore not suitable for the extremely high temperatures in aerospace, energy, and space applications. While wide-band-gap semiconductors can provide high-temperature logic, nonvolatile memory devices at high temperatures have been challenging. In this work, we develop a nonvolatile electrochemical memory cell that stores and retains analog and digital information at temperatures as high as 600°C. Through correlative scanning transmission electron microscopy, we show that this high-temperature information retention is a result of composition phase separation between the oxidized and reduced forms of amorphous tantalum oxide. This result demonstrates a memory concept that is resilient at extreme temperatures and reveals phase separation as the principal mechanism that enables nonvolatile information storage in these electrochemical memory cells.