Patent ID: 8711599

Claim:
A memory device comprising: a plurality of memory cells, each memory cell comprising: a first semiconductor material having a spontaneous polarization, a resistive ferroelectric material having a switchable spontaneous polarization, and a second semiconductor material having a spontaneous polarization, the resistive ferroelectric material being positioned between and in contact with the first and second semiconductor materials; and a controller to write data to and read data from the memory cells, in which the controller is configured to apply a first write signal to one of the memory cells to set the spontaneous polarization of the resistive ferroelectric material to a first state to cause a combination of the first semiconductor material, the resistive ferroelectric material, and the second semiconductor material to have a first resistance, and apply a second write signal to the memory cell to set the spontaneous polarization of the resistive ferroelectric material to a second state to cause the combination of the first semiconductor material, the resistive ferroelectric material, and the second semiconductor material to have a second resistance, and the controller is configured to read data from the memory cell by detecting the resistance of the combination of the first semiconductor material, the resistive ferroelectric material, and the second semiconductor material.