Novel Two-Terminal Synapse/Neuron Based on an Antiferroelectric Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Device for Neuromorphic Computing
Kangli Xu, Tianyu Wang, Lu Chen, Yifan Song, Yongkai Liu, Jiajie Yu, Yinchi Liu, Zhenhai Li, Jialin Meng, Hao Zhu, Qingqing Sun, David Wei Zhang, Lin Chen
Abstract
Functionally diverse devices with artificial neuron and synapse properties are critical for neuromorphic systems. We present a two-terminal artificial leaky-integrate-fire (LIF) neuron based on 6 nm Hf 0.1 Zr 0.9 O 2 (HZO) antiferroelectric (AFE) thin films and develop a synaptic device through work function (WF) engineering. LIF neuron characteristics, including integration, firing, and leakage, are achieved in W/HZO/W devices due to the accumulated polarization and spontaneous depolarization of AFE HZO films. By engineering the top electrode with asymmetric WFs, we found that Au/Ti/HZO/W devices exhibit synaptic weight plasticity, such as paired-pulse facilitation and long-term potentiation/depression, achieving >90% accuracy in digit recognition within constructed artificial neural network systems. These findings suggest that AFE HZO capacitor-based neurons and WF-engineered artificial synapses hold promise for constructing efficient spiking neuron networks and artificial neural networks, thereby advancing neuromorphic computing applications based on emerging AFE HZO devices.