Low energy consumption three-valued memory device inspired by solid-state batteries

Authors
Yuki Watanabe, Shigeru Kobayashi, Issei Sugiyama, Kazunori Nishio, Wei Liu, Satoshi Watanabe, Ryota Shimizu, and Taro Hitosugi

Abstract
We report the creation of a low-energy-consumption three-valued memory device based on the switching of open-circuit voltages. This device consists of a stack of Li, Li₃PO₄ solid electrolyte, and Ni electrode films. We observed reversible voltage switching between high, intermediate, and low open-circuit voltages. According to the scaling law, the energy required to switch a device is estimated to be 8.8 × 10^–11 J/μm² and this value is almost 1/50 of that of a typical dynamic random access memory. Both the high- and low-voltage states converged to the intermediate-voltage state, indicating that the intermediate-voltage state is the most stable metastable state.

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces : https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.9b15366