Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 18;15(6):2251.
doi: 10.3390/ma15062251.

Si-Doped HfO2-Based Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions with a Composite Energy Barrier for Non-Volatile Memory Applications

Yoseop Lee  1 , Sungmun Song  1 , Woori Ham  1 , Seung-Eon Ahn  1
Affiliations

Si-Doped HfO2-Based Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions with a Composite Energy Barrier for Non-Volatile Memory Applications

Yoseop Lee et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have attracted attention as devices for advanced memory applications owing to their high operating speed, low operating energy, and excellent scalability. In particular, hafnia ferroelectric materials are very promising because of their high remanent polarization (below 10 nm) and high compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes. In this study, a Si-doped HfO2-based FTJ device with a metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor (MFIS) structure was proposed to maximize the tunneling electro-resistance (TER) effect. The potential barrier modulation effect under applied varying voltage was analyzed, and the possibility of its application as a non-volatile memory device was presented through stability assessments such as endurance and retention tests.

Keywords: FTJ; ferroelectric; non-volatile memory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The TEM data for (a) MFM and (b) MFIS FTJ devices; elemental depth profiles of (c) MFM and (d) MFIS stacks analyzed by EDS.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The current–voltage characteristics of (a) MFM and (d) MFIS FTJ devices measured using a triangular waveform; energy band diagrams for polarization directions of down and up in the (b,c) MFM structure and (e,f) MFIS structure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A comparison of the stability of the MFM and MFIS FTJ devices under electrical switching cycling: current–voltage curves of (a) MFM and (d) MFIS FTJ devices with an increase in the number of cycles; switching density pseudo-color plots (b), (e) in the pristine state, and (c), (f) after 10 k switching cycles. The scale bar to the right of the graph represents the switching density, ρ.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The pulse driving conditions analysis: (a) pulse scheme used to determine the read driving condition; (b) tunneling current depending on read voltage pulses with varying amplitudes and a pulse width of 100 μs; (c) pulse scheme used to determine the write driving condition; (d) tunneling current depending on the write voltage pulse; (e) pulse scheme used to obtain the resistance–voltage (R–V) hysteresis data; (f) R–V hysteresis loop.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The reliability of the MFIS FTJ device: (a) endurance characteristics evaluated by electric field cycling; (b) retention characteristics for 105 s.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Li X.B., Chen N.K., Wang X.P., Sun H.B. Phase-Change Superlattice Materials toward Low Power Consumption and High Density Data Storage: Microscopic Picture, Working Principles, and Optimization. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018;28:1803380. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201803380. - DOI
    1. Martin L.W., Rappe A.M. Thin-film ferroelectric materials and their applications. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2017;2:16087. doi: 10.1038/natrevmats.2016.87. - DOI
    1. Wong H.S.P., Salahuddin S. Memory leads the way to better computing. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2015;10:191–194. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2015.29. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Koomey J. Growth in Data Center Electricity Use 2005 to 2010. Analytical Press; Berkeley, CA, USA: Aug, 2011. p. 161. New York Times.
    1. Orji N.G., Badaroglu M., Barnes B.M., Beitia C., Bunday B.D., Celano U., Kline R.J., Neisser M., Obeng Y., Vladar A.E. Metrology for the next generation of semiconductor devices. Nat. Electron. 2018;1:532–547. doi: 10.1038/s41928-018-0150-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources