Researchers develop plastic flexible magnetic memory device for wearables

It looks like nothing but a piece of transparent film with tiny engravings on it, but the magnetic memory chip embedded on a flexible plastic material developed by an international team of scientists is flexible enough to be bent into a tube.

Led by associate professor Yang Hyunsoo from the National University of Singapore (NUS), the research team successfully embedded a powerful magnetic memory chip on a flexible plastic material. The malleable chip hails a breakthrough in the flexible electronics revolution, bringing researchers closer towards making flexible wearables a reality.

Associate Professor Yang Hyunsoo from the National University of Singapore led a research team to successfully embed a powerful magnetic memory chip on a plastic material. Image source: National University of Singapore.

Considered “smart” plastic, the device demonstrates excellent performance in terms of data storage and processing capabilities. The magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) uses a magnesium oxide (MgO)-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) to store data. This is because MRAM outperforms conventional RAM in many aspects, including the ability to retain data after a power supply is cut off, high processing speed, and low-power consumption.

The research team originally grew the MTJ on a silicon surface, and then etched away the underlying silicon. Using a transfer printing approach, the team implanted the memory on a flexible PTFE surface while controlling the amount of strain.

As a critical component for the design and development of lightweight and flexible devices, the memory chip has great potential in applications such as automotive, healthcare electronics, industrial motor control, robotics, industrial power, energy management, and military and avionics systems.

According to Hyunsoo, the team’s experiments showed their device’s tunneling magnetoresistance could reach up to 300%, while also achieving improved abruptness of switching. “We have also managed to achieve improved abruptness of switching,” he said. “With all these enhanced features, the flexible magnetic chip is able to transfer data faster. We are the first team to fabricate magnetic memory on a flexible surface, and this significant milestone gives us the impetus to further enhance the performance of flexible memory devices and contribute towards the flexible electronics revolution.”

The breakthrough advancement was achieved in collaboration with researchers from Yonsei University, Ghent University, and Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. 

Source: NUS