Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics

A multi-university team led by Penn State University will establish a 'Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM).' The EFRC will exploit the 3rd dimension in microelectronics for functions beyond interconnects, enabling 3D non-von Neumann computer architectures exploiting ferroelectrics for local memory, logic in memory, digital/analog computation, and neuromorphic functionality. This approach circumvents the end of Moore's law in 2D scaling, while simultaneously overcoming the 'von Neumann bottleneck' in moving instructions and data between separate logic and memory circuits. The 3DFeM vision of monolithic 3D architectures is empowered by new ferroelectric materials that overcome 60-year-old materials compatibility challenges.3DFeM will result in a million-fold enhancement in interconnection between memory and logic, along with substantial reductions in the energy cost to computation by incorporating local memory while expanding memory and logic to the 3rd dimension. This will be realized by seamlessly operating at the interface between basic science and CMOS technology. Integrated ferroelectrics–deposited without use of epitaxy on geometrically complex surfaces with realistic back-end-of-the-line metallization and dielectrics–will naturally fuse memory and computation and exploit the 3rd dimension, unleashing unprecedented capabilities for the next generation of data-intensive IoT applications. Realizing this alternative platform defines our scientific objective to understand how to: design ferroelectricity in new host crystal structures tailor the coercive voltages through engineering emergent nanoscale inhomogeneity in scaled ultra-thin films deposit those materials with ancillary electronics at low temperatures at wafer scale characterize materials at previously inaccessible time and length scales, and employ ferroelectrics in digital and analog circuits with non-volatile memory (NVM).