The Physics of Ferroelectric Memories

Abstract

Imagine you are in the last stages of typing your thesis, the year is 1980, and it's a hot, hazy summer afternoon, a thunderstorm brews on the horizon. Tense and tired, you have forgotten to save the document on your hard disk. Suddenly, lightning strikes! Your computer shuts down. Your final chapter is lost. The ability of ferroelectric materials to switch robustly from one polarization state to another forms the basis of a new thin film technology for storing data.