Ferroelectric and Polar Oxides for In-Memory and Neuromorphic Computing

Ferroelectric and polar oxides have emerged as a cornerstone of next-generation electronic materials, offering a rich landscape of switchable polarization, non-volatile memory effects, and strong electron-lattice coupling. The ability to control and exploit these properties at the nanoscale has positioned these materials at the forefront of in-memory and neuromorphic computing — paradigms that promise to overcome the fundamental limitations of conventional von Neumann architectures. While early research focused on classical ferroelectrics such as perovskite oxides, the discovery of ferroelectricity in fluorite-structured oxides and the broader family of polar materials has dramatically expanded the design space, opening new avenues for scalable, CMOS-compatible device integration.Recent progress has illuminated the complex interplay between structural phase transitions, domain dynamics, interface effects, and functional device performance across a wide range of polar oxide systems. Advances in thin-film growth, epitaxial engineering, and atomic-scale characterization have enabled unprecedented control over ferroelectric switching, retention, and fatigue behavior. Yet critical challenges remain: What governs the variability and reliability of polarization switching at the few-nanometer scale? How can multi-state polarization be harnessed to emulate synaptic plasticity in artificial neural networks? And what materials and device architectures will prove most viable for energy-efficient, large-scale neuromorphic integration?This Research Topic aims to bring together the experimental and theoretical communities working on polar and functional oxides to address these open questions and chart a course toward practical in-memory and neuromorphic technologies. By bridging materials science, device physics, and computational neuroscience perspectives, it seeks to identify the key materials descriptors, processing strategies, and device concepts that will define the next generation of oxide-based computing platforms.To gather further insights into the design, characterization, and application of ferroelectric and polar oxides in computing, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Ferroelectric switching, domain dynamics, and retention in nanoscale thin films- Emerging polar and ferroelectric oxide materials for memory and logic- Ferroelectric-based synaptic devices and neuromorphic functionalities- Interface, defect, and strain engineering in polar oxide systems- Variability, endurance, and reliability in ferroelectric devices- CMOS integration and heterogeneous system architectures- Modelling and simulation of polarization dynamics and device behaviour- In-memory and AI-oriented computing architectures based on polar and ferroelectric oxides devices Topic editors: Firman Simanjuntak, Dongkyu Lee Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82876/ferroelectric-and-polar-oxides-for-in-memory-and-neuromorphic-computing