Nonvolatile ferroelectric domain wall memory

A nonvolatile highly scalable multilevel memory based on ferroelectric domain walls is demonstrated.
Ferroelectric domain walls are atomically sharp topological defects that separate regions of uniform polarization. The discovery of electrical conductivity in specific types of walls gave rise to “domain wall nanoelectronics,” a technology in which the wall (rather than the domain) stores information. This paradigm shift critically hinges on precise nanoengineering of reconfigurable domain walls. Using specially designed nanofabricated electrodes and scanning probe techniques, we demonstrate a prototype nonvolatile ferroelectric domain wall memory, scalable to below 100 nm, whose binary state is defined by the existence or absence of conductive walls. The device can be read out nondestructively at moderate voltages (