Researchers have identified a new origin of the “size effect” (materials lose their useful properties when their dimensions fall below a certain limit), at least for ferroelectric oxides: tiny linear crystal-lattice defects less than about a tenth of nanometer that can deform a tube of material.

RAM memory could be significantly improved if it were possible to construct non-volatile memory cells with a storage density of several billion bits per square centimeter. However, to realize this goal, miniaturization of the memory cells down to a few dozens of nanometers is required, running into the size effect.

“This finding opens up new possibilities to systematically select well-defined combinations of materials for applications of ferroelectric oxides in miniaturized memory elements”, says Professor Ulrich Gösele, director at Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft press release