Silicon/silicon
dioxide is arguably the most important technological interface. With the end of
Moore’s law scaling for silicon fast approaching, alternatives to silicon
dioxide could enable new electronic device architectures. MRSEC researchers
have recently achieved ferroelectric functionality in intimate contact with
silicon by growing SrTiO3 films in an intricate growth process using oxide
molecular-beam epitaxy, producing fully
strained SrTiO3 layers in direct contact with silicon with no
interfacial silicon dioxide. Piezo-force microscopy
sees ferroelectricity in the ultra-thin
SrTiO3 layers. Stable ferroelectric nanodomains, observed at
temperatures as high as 400 K, may form the basis of a new class of
ferroelectric memories, bistable field-effect
transistor devices, and low-power devices operating at room temperature.
