A Lithium Solid-State Memristor -Modulating Interfaces and Defects for Novel Li-Ionic Operated Memory and Computing Architectures

Seed 4
PI: Jennifer Rupp
 

INTELLECTUAL MERIT
Ionically-controlled memristors could allow for the realization of highly functional, low-energy circuit elements operating on multiple resistance states and to encode information beyond binary, as in actual microelectronics. In a memristor, the application of a sufficiently high electric field induces a non-volatile resistance change linked to locally induced redox processes in the oxide. This technology could match the energy efficiency of the brain.

MIT MRSEC researchers investigate new Li-based oxides that  could  beat the performance of current technologies. They have shown for the first time that a lithium titanate compounds, shows very promising properties which could be widely tuned by manipulating the lithium concentration at the nanoscale. This discovery could be key for future brain-inspired computing and reconfigurable systems.

A flow chart diagram circles around two central images, one, verticle graph illustrating defect concentration to space charge, and the other, a cuboid consisting of four parts from bottom to top: Silicon nitrate, an platinum electrode, lithium titanate, and another platinum electrode. In the surrounding diagram, five green ovals labeled one: co-free: Eco-friendly material; two: zero-strain material, three: low-voltage operation; four: metal-insulator transition; and five: wide electrochemical window. The Five crown the bottom, large blue oval which reads "New Tunable resistive switching performance upon lithiation control."

 

BROADER IMPACT
Large efforts are currently being made in the scientific community to build and implement neuromorphic chips, which would be able to mimic the response of the brain and expand the computing capabilities that are currently performed in large computing clusters to single device scale with ultra-low power consumption.

MIT MRSEC researchers have patented the non-volatile memory effect known as Resistive Switching in lithium titanate compounds, where the device performance can be adapted through control of the lithiation degree at the nanoscale. This discovery could be key for future brain-inspired computing and reconfigurable systems.