A team of researchers from KAIST has developed flexible non-volatile resistive random access memory (RRAM) technology where a memory cell can be randomly accessed, written, and erased on a plastic substrate. Led by Professor Keon Jae Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the research work has been done in October 2011.
Although several flexible memory materials have been reported, these devices cannot overcome cell-to-cell interference due to their structural and material limitations, requiring switching elements such as transistors to be integrated with the memory elements.
Unfortunately, most transistors built on plastic substrates (e.g., organic/oxide transistors) are not capable of achieving the sufficient performance level with which to drive conventional memory. Hence, the development of flexible memory has remained a challenge to the realization of flexible electronics.
Recently, Prof. Lee’s research team developed a fully functional flexible memory that is not affected by cell-to-cell interference, by integrating a memristor (a recently spotlighted memory material as next-generation memory elements) with a high-performance single-crystal silicon transistor on flexible substrates.
Combining these two technologies, they successfully showed that all memory functions in a matrix memory array – such as writing, reading, and erasing – were able to work.
“This result represents an exciting technology with the strong potential to realize all flexible electronic systems for the development of a freely bendable and attachable computer in the near future,” Prof. Lee said.
