Emerging memories

Which device uses the fact that the tunneling current through a thin ferroelectric layer depends on the direction of its polarization?

  1. AFTJ (ferroelectric tunnel junction)
  2. BMTJ (magnetic tunnel junction)
  3. CMIM capacitor
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. FTJ (ferroelectric tunnel junction)

An FTJ (ferroelectric tunnel junction) sandwiches a very thin ferroelectric layer of a few nanometers between electrodes; the polarization direction changes the shape of the tunnel barrier and thus the resistance. Unlike capacitor-type FeRAM, it can be read non-destructively as a resistance, so it is being studied for low-power memory and computing devices.

  • A. Correct. Its tunneling resistance changes with ferroelectric polarization.
  • B. An MTJ's tunneling resistance changes with magnetization direction.
  • C. A MIM capacitor is a metal-insulator-metal capacitor and does not use resistance change.
Practice this topic Back to topic

More Emerging memories questions

  1. Which effect, being studied to reduce MRAM write energy, changes the magnetic anisotropy of a magnetic layer with a voltage?
  2. Which correctly describes how MRAM stores data?
  3. Which correctly describes how phase-change memory (PCM) stores data?
  4. Which property does FeRAM (ferroelectric memory) use to store information?
  5. Which correctly describes how ReRAM (resistive memory) stores data?