title: Resolving voltage-time dilemma using an atomic-scale lever of subpicosecond electron-phonon interaction.
abstract: Nanoelectronic memory based on trapped charge need to be small and fast, but fundamentally it faces a voltage-time dilemma because the requirement of a high-energy barrier for data retention under zero/low electrical stimuli is incompatible with the demand of a low-energy barrier for fast switching under a modest programming voltage. One solution is to embed an atomic-level lever of localized electron-phonon interaction to autonomously reconfigure trap-site's barrier in accordance to the electron-occupancy of the site. Here we demonstrate an atomically levered resistance-switching memory built on locally flexible amorphous nanometallic thin films: charge detrapping can be triggered by a mechanical force, the fastest one being a plasmonic Lorentz force induced by a nearby electron or positron bunch passing in 10(-13) s. The observation provided the first real-time evidence of an electron-phonon interaction in action, which enables nanometallic memory to turn on at a subpicosecond speed yet retain long-term memory, thus suitable for universal memory and other nanoelectron applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6272, United States.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ioan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tudosa
authors.forename: Byung Joon
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Albert B K
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: I-Wei
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Resistive switching memory; amorphous materials; electron−phonon interaction; metal insulator transition; plasmonic; pressure (effect)