MULTI-TRACK FERROELECTRIC DEVICE

Domain wall motion in a slab of ferroelectric material gives rise to an electrical signal which may correspond, e.g., to electrode width fluctuations or to a radiation pattern incident on a sensitive layer. A device may have numerous ferroelectric readout tracks, in which case the number of electrical leads can be minimized by a layout in which unidirectional movement of a planar ferroelectric domain wall not only serves to scan a track but also select a track from a large number of tracks. Such device operation is a feature of a device in which a ferroelectric slab is cut, e.g., in the manner of a comb or ladder. Resulting devices may be operated by judicious cycling of voltages at as few as two control electrodes, one defining an access track, and the other being common to the readout tracks.