Demonstration of 10 nm Ferroelectric Al0.7Sc0.3N-Based Capacitors for Enabling Selector-Free Memory Array

Demonstration of 10 nm Ferroelectric Al0.7Sc0.3N-Based Capacitors for Enabling Selector-Free Memory Array

Materials

10.3390/ma17030627

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma17030627

Li Chen, Chen Liu, Hock Koon Lee, Binni Varghese, Ronald Wing Fai Ip, Minghua Li, Zhan Jiang Quek, Yan Hong, Weijie Wang, Wendong Song, Huamao Lin, Yao Zhu

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

30 January 2024

Chen, L., Liu, C., Lee, H. K., Varghese, B., Ip, R. W. F., Li, M., Quek, Z. J., Hong, Y., Wang, W., Song, W., Lin, H., & Zhu, Y. (2024). Demonstration of 10 nm Ferroelectric Al0.7Sc0.3N-Based Capacitors for Enabling Selector-Free Memory Array. Materials, 17(3), 627. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030627

In this work, 10 nm scandium-doped aluminum nitride (AlScN) capacitors are demonstrated for the construction of the selector-free memory array application. The 10 nm Al0.7Sc0.3N film deposited on an 8-inch silicon wafer with sputtering technology exhibits a large remnant polarization exceeding 100 µC/cm2 and a tight distribution of the coercive field, which is characterized by the positive-up-negative-down (PUND) method. As a result, the devices with lateral dimension of only 1.5 μm show a large memory window of over 250% and a low power consumption of ~40 pJ while maintaining a low disturbance rate of <2%. Additionally, the devices demonstrate stable multistate memory characteristics with a dedicated operation scheme. The back-end-of-line (BEOL)-compatible fabrication process, along with all these device performances, shows the potential of AlScN-based capacitors for the implementation of the high-density selector-free memory array.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This research / project is supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council of A*STAR - Ferroelectric Aluminum Scandium Nitride (Al1-xScxN) Thin Films and Devices for mm-Wave and Edge Computing
Grant Reference no. : A20G9b0135

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/21034

1996-1944

Institute of Microelectronics