Leti engaged in EU project to develop neuromorphic processor

Leti is developing a ferroelectric tunnel junction for the EU Beferrosynaptic project, which kicked off in early 2020. The junction could become the core component of tomorrow’s neuromorphic processors. Neuromorphic processors or chips differ from conventional chips in that memory and computing resources are very tightly integrated, just like in the human brain. Plus, they could use 1,000 times less energy than conventional chips.

The researchers chose a material called hafnium oxide, which is already used in CMOS devices. But using the material in tunnel junctions does raise some new challenges, like understanding crystal formation, controlling the thin-layer deposition process to within 1 nm, and selecting the operating voltages. To overcome these hurdles, Leti will leverage the advances of another EU project on hafnium oxide it has been working on since 2018.

Contact: laurent.grenouillet@cea.fr

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