2Memristor-1Capacitor Integrated Temporal Kernel for High-Dimensional Data Mapping.

Compact but precise feature-extracting ability is core to processing complex computational tasks in neuromorphic hardware. Physical reservoir computing (RC) offers a robust framework to map temporal data into a high-dimensional space using the time dynamics of a material system, such as a volatile memristor. However, conventional physical RC systems have limited dynamics for the given material properties, restricting the methods to increase their dimensionality. This study proposes an integrated temporal kernel composed of a 2-memristor and 1-capacitor (2M1C) using a W/HfO2/TiN memristor and TiN/ZrO2/Al2O3/ZrO2/TiN capacitor to achieve higher dimensionality and tunable dynamics. The kernel elements are carefully designed and fabricated into an integrated array, of which performances are evaluated under diverse conditions. By optimizing the time dynamics of the 2M1C kernel, each memristor simultaneously extracts complementary information from input signals. The MNIST benchmark digit classification task achieves a high accuracy of 94.3% with a (196×10) single-layer network. Analog input mapping ability is tested with a Mackey-Glass time series prediction, and the system records a normalized root mean square error of 0.04 with a 20×1 readout network, the smallest readout network ever used for Mackey-Glass prediction in RC. These performances demonstrate its high potential for efficient temporal data analysis.

Improved Properties of the Atomic Layer Deposited Ru Electrode for Dynamic Random-Access Memory Capacitor Using Discrete Feeding Method.

Ruthenium (Ru) thin films deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) with a normal sequence and discrete feeding method (DFM) and their performance as a bottom electrode of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) capacitors were compared. The DFM-ALD was performed by dividing the Ru feeding and purge steps of the conventional ALD process into four steps (shorter feeding time + purge time). The surface morphology of the Ru films was improved significantly with the DFM-ALD, and the preferred orientation of the Ru films was changed from relatively random to a <101>-oriented direction. Under the DFM-ALD condition, the higher susceptibility of oxygen atoms to the Ru electrode resulted in a higher proportion of the RuO2 formation on the Ru film surface during the subsequent TiO2 ALD process. This higher RuO2 portion leads to higher crystallinity of the local-epitaxially grown TiO2 films with a rutile phase. Such improvement also decreased the interfacial component of equivalent oxide thickness (EOTi) by ∼0.1 nm compared with the cases on sputtered Ru film, which showed an even smoother surface morphology. Consequently, the minimum EOT values when the Ru bottom electrodes deposited via DFM-ALD were adopted were 0.76 and 0.48 nm for TiO2 and Al-doped TiO2 films, respectively, while still satisfying the DRAM leakage current density specification (<10-7 A/cm2 at a capacitor voltage of 0.8 V).