Nonvolatile Transistor Memory Based on a High-<i>k</i> Dielectric Polymer Blend for Multilevel Data Storage, Encryption, and Protection
Xiaosong Wu, Shiyu Feng, Jinghui Shen, Wei Huang, Wei Huang, Cong Li, Caicong Li, Yuan Sui, Weiguo Huang, Weiguo Huang
Abstract
Nonvolatile transistor memories (NVTMs) are fabricated based on a polymer blend dielectric containing poly(pentafluorophenyl acrylate) (pPFPA) and branched-poly(ethylene imine) (bPEI). Detailed studies reveal this dielectric not only exhibits a high dielectric constant (k = 285 at 20 Hz), apparent polarization hysteresis, and robust mechanical properties but also endows a transistor (PBTTT-C14 as semiconductor) with ultrahigh mobilities (7.5 cm2 V–1 s–1) and on/off ratios (107). By virtue of this, NVTMs possessing an eight-level storage capability at low operating gate voltages are demonstrated, with good data retention and endurance of over 105 s and 100 cycles, respectively. More importantly, the drain current can also be well controlled by the gate voltage pulse width, leading to NVTMs with two-dimensional (voltage and time) storage capability. Further, the application of the NVTMs to data recording, encryption, and protection is demonstrated, with a desirable security feature, opening the door to NVTMs with higher performance.