Discovery could help lengthen lifespan of electronic devices
Globally, tens of millions of tonnes of failed electronic devices go to landfill every year. Credit: Pixabay
Ferroelectric materials are used in many devices, including memories, capacitors, actuators and sensors. These devices are commonly used in both consumer and industrial instruments, such as computers, medical ultrasound equipment and underwater sonars.聽
Over time, ferroelectric materials are subjected to repeated mechanical and electrical loading, leading to a progressive decrease in their functionality, ultimately resulting in failure. This process is referred to as 鈥榝erroelectric fatigue鈥�.聽
It is a main cause of the failure of a range of electronic devices, with discarded electronics a leading contributor to e-waste. Globally, tens of millions of tonnes of failed electronic devices go to landfill every year.聽
Using advanced in-situ electron microscopy, the聽聽researchers were able to observe ferroelectric fatigue as it occurred. This technique uses an advanced microscope to 鈥榮ee鈥�, in real-time, down to the nanoscale and atomic levels.
The researchers hope this new observation, described in a paper published in聽, will help better inform the future design of ferroelectric nanodevices.
鈥淥ur discovery is a significant scientific breakthrough as it shows a clear picture of how the ferroelectric degradation process is present at the nanoscale,鈥� said co-author聽, also from the聽.
Dr Qianwei Huang, the study's lead researcher, said: 鈥淎lthough it has long been known that ferroelectric fatigue can shorten the lifespan of electronic devices, how it occurs has previously not been well understood, due to a lack of suitable technology to observe it.鈥�
颁辞-补耻迟丑辞谤听聽said: 鈥淲ith this, we hope to better inform the engineering of devices with longer lifespans.鈥澛�
Electron microscopy images show the degradation in action. Credit: University of Sydney
Nobel laureate Herbert Kroemer once famously asserted 鈥淭he interface is the device鈥�. The observations by the Sydney researchers could therefore spark a new debate on whether interfaces 鈥� which are physical boundaries separating different regions in materials 鈥� are a viable solution to the unreliability of next-generation devices.
鈥淥ur discovery has indicated that interfaces could actually speed up ferroelectric degradation. Therefore, better understanding of these processes is needed to achieve the best performance of devices,鈥� Dr Chen said.
DISCLOSURE:
The research was supported by the Australian Research Council for the project, Unravelling the structural origin of cyclic fatigue in ferroelectric materials. It was facilitated by the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis at the University of Sydney.
