Abstract
Solid-state memory is an essential component of the digital age. With advancements in healthcare technology and the Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for ultra-dense, ultra-low-power memory is increasing. In this review, we present a comprehensive perspective on the most notable approaches to the fabrication of physically flexible memory devices. With the future goal of replacing traditional mechanical hard disks with solid-state storage devices, a fully flexible electronic system will need two basic devices: transistors and nonvolatile memory. Transistors are used for logic operations and gating memory arrays, while nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices are required for storing information in the main memory and cache storage. Since the highest density of transistors and storage structures is manifested in memories, the focus of this review is flexible NVM. Flexible NVM components are discussed in terms of their functionality, performance metrics, and reliability aspects, all of which are critical components for NVM technology to be part of mainstream consumer electronics, IoT, and advanced healthcare devices. Finally, flexible NVMs are benchmarked and future prospects are provided.
Highlights
Recent advancements in flexible electronics research will enable novel applications ranging from stylish flexible gadgets for real-time monitoring of health-related vital signs to novel biological applications such as electronic skin [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
organic light emitting diode (OLED) flexible screens are already available in the market, and numerous novel biomedical and wearable applications using flexible electronics have been proposed
Expectations for silicon-based electronics are high and the status quo is for high performance, fast, low power, compact, and reliable aspects, some of which might not cross the chasm to the flexible arena
Summary
Recent advancements in flexible electronics research will enable novel applications ranging from stylish flexible gadgets for real-time monitoring of health-related vital signs to novel biological applications such as electronic skin [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. These sensors will be integrated in smart cards and RFIDs, vehicular technologies, buildings, infrastructures, healthcare, smart energy, factories, and supply chain management [98,99,100], as well as on humans for improving regular day to day experience [101] To achieve such functionalities and fulfill the futuristic vision, IoT devices will require: (i) increased intra-node processing for real-time decision making; (ii) robustness to environmental variations (reliability); (iii) ultra-low power operation; (iv) ultra-high density integrated NVM and (v) smart antennas for wireless communications [102,103,104,105,106]. NVM modules require information storage elements and select access transistors; a NVM perspective of the flexible electronics arena provides a comprehensive overview of the basic elements needed for implementing all electronic systems, including systems suitable for IoT applications
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