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Hybrid ferroelectric-ionic memristive hardware for high scalability in-memory computing
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  • Published: 21 May 2026

Hybrid ferroelectric-ionic memristive hardware for high scalability in-memory computing

  • Jeong-Han Kim1 na1,
  • Wonjun Shin  ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-9488-136X2,3,4 na1,
  • Ryun-Han Koo  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5708-33085 na1,
  • Jangsaeng Kim  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4519-135X2,6 na1,
  • Eugene Park  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6573-91627 na1,
  • Piush Behera  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7550-02082,
  • Sojin Kim  ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-0341-84348,
  • Jinseok Hong  ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-1489-18608,
  • Feras Al-Dirini  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7703-24872,
  • Been Kwak  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0792-50959,
  • Jiwon You10,
  • Jiseong Im  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-92245,
  • Dooyong Koh2,11,
  • Yejin Hong2,11,
  • Qinyuan Xue2,11,
  • Hyun-Min Kim1,
  • Hyunho Seok  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3189-59302,
  • Youngchan Cho  ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-2796-93963,
  • Hwiin Ju12,
  • Wooje Jung12,
  • Kyunghwan Lee12,
  • Daewon Ha  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9061-862612,
  • Jong-Ho Lee5,
  • Seung-Yong Lee  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8363-41428,13,
  • Deok-Hwang Kwon14,
  • Frances M. Ross  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0838-97707,
  • Youngho Kang  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4532-002715,
  • Suraj S. Cheema  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5878-36242,7,11 &
  • …
  • Daewoong Kwon  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1159-34061,9,10 

Nature Communications (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Electrical and electronic engineering
  • Electronic and spintronic devices
  • Electronic devices

Abstract

In-memory computing using two-terminal memristors offers a promising route to reduce the energy demands of data-intensive computing. However, current devices scale poorly due to sneak currents and materials that are incompatible with standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor and very large-scale integration processes. Here we demonstrate a self-rectifying memristor that unifies resistive switching and diode-like rectification in a single device, a hybrid ferroelectric-ionic tunnel diode fabricated using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible materials and processes. We harness the collective (ferroelectric-antiferroelectric polymorphism) and defective (ionic) switching behaviors of HfO2 − ZrO2 to synergistically enhance both its electroresistance and rectifying behavior. Furthermore, conformal atomic layer deposition enables the integration of three-dimensional device structures, yielding high on/off (9.3 × 107) and rectifying (1.7 × 106) ratios with a storage capacity of 10 Gb. These results highlight the potential of this device as a hardware building block for scalable in-memory computing platforms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Institute of Information & communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS-2024-00399394, Development of PDK and process integration platform for new memory–CMOS co-integrated PIM system; D.Kwon); in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) under Grant RS-2023-00260527 (D.Kwon).

Author information

Author notes
  1. These authors contributed equally: Jeong-Han Kim, Wonjun Shin, Ryun-Han Koo, Jangsaeng Kim, Eugene Park.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jeong-Han Kim, Hyun-Min Kim & Daewoong Kwon

  2. Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Wonjun Shin, Jangsaeng Kim, Piush Behera, Feras Al-Dirini, Dooyong Koh, Yejin Hong, Qinyuan Xue, Hyunho Seok & Suraj S. Cheema

  3. Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea

    Wonjun Shin & Youngchan Cho

  4. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea

    Wonjun Shin

  5. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Ryun-Han Koo, Jiseong Im & Jong-Ho Lee

  6. Department of System Semiconductor Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea

    Jangsaeng Kim

  7. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Eugene Park, Frances M. Ross & Suraj S. Cheema

  8. Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sojin Kim, Jinseok Hong & Seung-Yong Lee

  9. Department of Nanoscale Semiconductor Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Been Kwak & Daewoong Kwon

  10. Department of AI Semiconductor Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jiwon You & Daewoong Kwon

  11. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Dooyong Koh, Yejin Hong, Qinyuan Xue & Suraj S. Cheema

  12. Advanced Device Research Laboratory, Semiconductor Research Center, Samsung Electronics, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea

    Hwiin Ju, Wooje Jung, Kyunghwan Lee & Daewon Ha

  13. Department of Battery Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Seung-Yong Lee

  14. Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Deok-Hwang Kwon

  15. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea

    Youngho Kang

Authors
  1. Jeong-Han Kim
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  2. Wonjun Shin
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  3. Ryun-Han Koo
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  15. Qinyuan Xue
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  16. Hyun-Min Kim
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  17. Hyunho Seok
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  18. Youngchan Cho
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  19. Hwiin Ju
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  20. Wooje Jung
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  21. Kyunghwan Lee
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  22. Daewon Ha
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  23. Jong-Ho Lee
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  24. Seung-Yong Lee
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  25. Deok-Hwang Kwon
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  26. Frances M. Ross
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  27. Youngho Kang
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  28. Suraj S. Cheema
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  29. Daewoong Kwon
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wonjun Shin, Suraj S. Cheema or Daewoong Kwon.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cite this article

Kim, JH., Shin, W., Koo, RH. et al. Hybrid ferroelectric-ionic memristive hardware for high scalability in-memory computing. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72103-6

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  • Received: 14 July 2025

  • Accepted: 07 April 2026

  • Published: 21 May 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72103-6

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