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Ben Jiang

Chinese researchers have developed a way to make an emerging type of memory chip much more durable, potentially overcoming a critical reliability barrier to its use in high-performance computing and future artificial intelligence systems as the AI boom drives demand for more advanced semiconductors.
The team demonstrated more than 10 billion writing cycles in wurtzite ferroelectrics, a class of materials that can switch between two electric states to store data. The result was roughly 100 times the endurance previously achieved with the same material and could help advance a potential next-generation memory technology, according to an online report published on Saturday by local media outlet Xian Daily.
The breakthrough looks to bring ferroelectric memory closer to practical use in future computing hardware.
The research, led by scientists at Xian-based Xidian University in collaboration with City University of Hong Kong and Fudan University, was published on Thursday in the journal Science.
In recent years, wurtzite ferroelectrics such as aluminium scandium nitride, or AlScN, have gained attention as promising next-generation memory materials because they offer rapid switching speeds and potentially low energy consumption.
Crucially, AlScN is also compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing processes, potentially streamlining its integration into future memory devices.
However, the material has faced a significant hurdle: deterioration after repeated electrical switching. Existing AlScN devices have typically failed after roughly 100 million writing cycles – far shy of the billions required for commercial application.
Think of ferroelectric material as a neatly planted cornfield, with nitrogen vacancies representing spots where seedlings are missing
Wang Ruiqing, Xidian University
The researchers said they identified the accumulation of nitrogen vacancies – spots where nitrogen atoms were missing – as a key reason for the relatively rapid failure rate of ferroelectric chips, as the defects create paths for electricity to leak through the chip.
Wang Ruiqing, a doctoral researcher at Xidian University and one of the paper’s authors, broke it down more simply for the Xian Daily.
“Think of ferroelectric material as a neatly planted cornfield, with nitrogen vacancies representing spots where seedlings are missing,” Wang was quoted as saying.
The core issue, Wang explained, was not simply the number of these defects, but their behaviour as the material was repeatedly switched. The nitrogen vacancies could move and cluster together, eventually forming pathways through the material that allowed electricity to leak and could lead to breakdown.
“In the past, researchers knew that the devices failed and could observe some of the symptoms, but no one had been able to explain at the atomic scale what was moving, how they were moving and how that movement ultimately caused failure,” Wang said.
The team addressed the problem by designing a layered structure that confined the movement of the nitrogen vacancies.
By restricting the movement and accumulation of the vacancies, the researchers were able to significantly slow the material’s deterioration, allowing it to withstand more than 10 billion writing cycles, they said in the research.
The findings, though still at the laboratory stage, point to a path towards making these materials more durable for dense, low-power memory chips – an advance that comes as the global AI boom continues to fuel demand for faster and more reliable chips.


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Restricting nitrogen-vacancy movement in wurtzite ferroelectrics looks to improve the reliability of next-generation storage, scientists find


Restricting nitrogen-vacancy movement in wurtzite ferroelectrics looks to improve the reliability of next-generation storage, scientists find.


Chinese researchers extend future memory endurance 100-fold in semiconductor advance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Restricting nitrogen-vacancy movement in wurtzite ferroelectrics looks to improve the reliability of next-generation storage, scientists find

Restricting nitrogen-vacancy movement in wurtzite ferroelectrics looks to improve the reliability of next-generation storage, scientists find