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Metal-ion-based fabrication solutions for green AI hardware, addressing one of the today’s urgent needs

Project description

Greener memory for smarter machines

The AI boom comes at a climate cost: soaring energy demands from data centres that feed machine learning. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the HiPIMS-Fmemories project is tackling this with a smarter kind of memory. It is betting on HfO2-based ferroelectric films that store data fast and sip power. These materials are tricky to perfect. Using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering, researchers grow nanostructured HfZrO2 films with atomic precision. The result? Faster, more efficient memory with a smaller carbon footprint. If successful, this project could rewrite the future of sustainable computing, one atomic layer at a time.

Objective

Data centres running artificial intelligence AI and machine-learning workloads significantly impact climate change due to their massive electricity consumption. The urgent need for sustainable solutions has highlighted the potential of emerging ferroelectric random-access memories (FRAMs), particularly HfO2-based FRAMs. These devices offer low power consumption and fast switching speeds, making them ideal for energy-efficient data storage technologies. However, achieving stable and uniform ferroelectric properties in HfO2-based thin films requires the precise engineering of strain and defects under specific conditions. Overcoming these technical challenges is crucial for the widespread adoption of the FRAM technology to help mitigating the environmental impacts of data centres. I aim to tackle these challenges by proposing metal-ion-based magnetron sputtering strategies. HiPIMS-Fmemories will enable the growth of HfZrO2 thin films (as a model HfO2-based material system) with specific polar phases and nanocolumnar structures, essential for achieving uniform, enhanced ferroelectricity. HiPIMS-Fmemories will deliver: (1) fabrication of high-quality thin films using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and the effects of metal-ion irradiation on metastable domains and material properties, (2) rapid, energy-efficient ferroelectric switching by optimising key metal-ion parameters, (3) enhanced understanding of the relationship between polarisation responses and resistive switching arising from ionic-conduction effects, and (4) device fabrication and testing. These fabrication solutions can also be applicable for other ferroelectric thin-film materials. Overall, this research aims to represent a significant advancement in developing sustainable and efficient FRAM technologies.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 263 393,28
Address
ANKER ENGELUNDS VEJ 101
2800 KONGENS LYNGBY
Denmark

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Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Københavns omegn
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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