Dopant Engineering of Hafnia-Based Ferroelectrics for Long Data Retention and High Thermal Stability

Small. 2024 Mar;20(13):e2306871. doi: 10.1002/smll.202306871. Epub 2023 Nov 15.

Abstract

Hafnia-based ferroelectrics have gained much attention because they can be used in highly scaled, advanced complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory devices. However, thermal stability should be considered when integrating hafnia-based ferroelectric transistors in advanced CMOS devices, as they can be exposed to high-temperature processes. This work proposed that doping of Al in hafnia-based ferroelectric material can lead to high thermal stability. A ferroelectric capacitor based on Al-doped hafnia, which can be used for one-transistor-one-capacitor applications, exhibits stable operation even after annealing at 900 °C. Moreover, it demonstrates that the ferroelectric transistors based on Al-doped hafnia for one-transistor applications, such as ferroelectric NAND, retain their memory states for 10 years at 100 °C. This study presents a practical method to achieve thermally stable ferroelectric memories capable of enduring high-temperature processes and operation conditions.

Keywords: data retention; ferroelectric materials; ferroelectric memories; ferroelectric thin‐film transistors; thermal stability.