A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed a new design for computer memory that could lead to a reduction in energy demands and also improve performance. The new memory design is based on hafnium oxide, which is already used in the semiconductor industry, and tiny self-assembled barriers that can be raised or lowered to allow electrons to pass through. By changing the electrical resistance in computer memory devices and allowing information processing and memory to exist in the same place, the design could lead to the development of computer memory devices with far greater density, higher performance, and lower energy consumption.
New Design for Computer Memory
The world’s increasing demand for data has resulted in a surge of energy demands, making it hard to reduce carbon emissions. Within the next ten years, it is predicted that data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet usage, algorithms, and others will consume over 30% of global electricity. One of the main reasons for this energy explosion is the inefficiency of current computer memory technologies. In conventional computing, there’s memory on one side and processing on the other, and data is shuffled back between the two, which takes both energy and time.
The researchers, led by Dr. Markus Hellenbrand, have developed a prototype device based on hafnium oxide, which is an insulating material used in the semiconductor industry. The researchers added barium to thin films of hafnium oxide, which resulted in the formation of unusual structures perpendicular to the hafnium oxide plane in the composite material. These vertical barium-rich ‘bridges’ allow electrons to pass through while the surrounding hafnium oxide remains unstructured. At the point where these bridges meet the device contacts, an energy barrier was created, which electrons can cross. The researchers were able to control the height of this barrier, which in turn changes the electrical resistance of the composite material.
The new design allows multiple states to exist in the material, unlike conventional memory which has only two states. A functioning resistive switching memory device would be capable of a continuous range of states, which would result in computer memory devices with far greater density and speed. Hellenbrand claims that a typical USB stick based on continuous range would be able to hold between 10 and 100 times more information.
Promising for Next-Generation Memory Applications
Unlike other composite materials that require expensive high-temperature manufacturing methods, these hafnium oxide composites self-assemble at low temperatures. The composite material showed high levels of performance and uniformity, making them highly promising for next-generation memory applications. Hellenbrand sees the potential for the materials to work like a synapse in the brain, which can store and process information in the same place, making them highly promising for the rapidly growing AI and machine learning fields.
The researchers are now working with the industry to carry out larger feasibility studies on the materials to understand how the high-performance structures form. Since hafnium oxide is already used in the semiconductor industry, the researchers say it would not be difficult to integrate into existing manufacturing processes. A patent on the technology has been filed by Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialization arm.
The new design for computer memory could revolutionize energy consumption by reducing global electricity demands and improving performance. The development of computer memory devices with far greater density, higher performance, and lower energy consumption will lead to more efficient data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet usage, algorithms, and others.
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