Oxygen-Atom Incorporated Ferroelectric AlScN Capacitors for Multi-Level Operation

Si Meng Chen; Hirofumi Nishida; Sung Lin Tsai; Takuya Hoshii; Kazuo Tsutsui; Hitoshi Wakabayashi; Edward Yi Chang; Kuniyuki Kakushima

doi:10.1109/LED.2024.3453111

Oxygen-Atom Incorporated Ferroelectric AlScN Capacitors for Multi-Level Operation

Si Meng Chen^*, Hirofumi Nishida, Sung Lin Tsai, Takuya Hoshii, Kazuo Tsutsui, Hitoshi Wakabayashi, Edward Yi Chang, Kuniyuki Kakushima

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of oxygen-atom incorporation in 50-nm-thick ferroelectric Al0.89Sc0.11N films was investigated. The fabricated films exhibited a high remanent polarization (P_r) exceeding 100μC/cm², irrespective of the oxygen content studied. An increase in oxygen content led to a decrease in coercive field (E_c) from 5.2 to 4.4 MV/cm and an increase in the static dielectric constant (ϵ_i) from 15 to 19. This was likely due to the formation of substitute O and Al vacancy complex defects to ease N-atom displacement. Additionally, higher oxygen content resulted in imprint effect elimination, leakage current reduction, and breakdown field (E_BD) enhancement, which are beneficial for ferroelectric memory applications. The gentle and linear relationship between P_r and the electric field (E) enabled precise control of partial polarization switching, supporting multi-level operation. Although issues related to fatigue and endurance cycles remain to be addressed, the high P_r and potential for multi-level operation are suitable for crossbar-based analog in-memory computing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2090-2093
Number of pages	4
Journal	Ieee Electron Device Letters
Volume	45
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/LED.2024.3453111
State	Published - 2024

Keywords

Ferroelectric AlScN
endurance cycle
multi-level operation

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10.1109/LED.2024.3453111

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@article{59a6436b2ec54cd89254760810ec40ff,

title = "Oxygen-Atom Incorporated Ferroelectric AlScN Capacitors for Multi-Level Operation",

abstract = "The effect of oxygen-atom incorporation in 50-nm-thick ferroelectric Al0.89Sc0.11N films was investigated. The fabricated films exhibited a high remanent polarization (Pr) exceeding 100μC/cm2, irrespective of the oxygen content studied. An increase in oxygen content led to a decrease in coercive field (Ec) from 5.2 to 4.4 MV/cm and an increase in the static dielectric constant (ϵi) from 15 to 19. This was likely due to the formation of substitute O and Al vacancy complex defects to ease N-atom displacement. Additionally, higher oxygen content resulted in imprint effect elimination, leakage current reduction, and breakdown field (EBD) enhancement, which are beneficial for ferroelectric memory applications. The gentle and linear relationship between Pr and the electric field (E) enabled precise control of partial polarization switching, supporting multi-level operation. Although issues related to fatigue and endurance cycles remain to be addressed, the high Pr and potential for multi-level operation are suitable for crossbar-based analog in-memory computing.",

keywords = "Ferroelectric AlScN, endurance cycle, multi-level operation",

author = "Chen, {Si Meng} and Hirofumi Nishida and Tsai, {Sung Lin} and Takuya Hoshii and Kazuo Tsutsui and Hitoshi Wakabayashi and {Yi Chang}, Edward and Kuniyuki Kakushima",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 1980-2012 IEEE.",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1109/LED.2024.3453111",

language = "English",

volume = "45",

pages = "2090--2093",

journal = "Ieee Electron Device Letters",

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T1 - Oxygen-Atom Incorporated Ferroelectric AlScN Capacitors for Multi-Level Operation

AU - Chen, Si Meng

AU - Nishida, Hirofumi

AU - Tsai, Sung Lin

AU - Hoshii, Takuya

AU - Tsutsui, Kazuo

AU - Wakabayashi, Hitoshi

AU - Yi Chang, Edward

AU - Kakushima, Kuniyuki

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - The effect of oxygen-atom incorporation in 50-nm-thick ferroelectric Al0.89Sc0.11N films was investigated. The fabricated films exhibited a high remanent polarization (Pr) exceeding 100μC/cm2, irrespective of the oxygen content studied. An increase in oxygen content led to a decrease in coercive field (Ec) from 5.2 to 4.4 MV/cm and an increase in the static dielectric constant (ϵi) from 15 to 19. This was likely due to the formation of substitute O and Al vacancy complex defects to ease N-atom displacement. Additionally, higher oxygen content resulted in imprint effect elimination, leakage current reduction, and breakdown field (EBD) enhancement, which are beneficial for ferroelectric memory applications. The gentle and linear relationship between Pr and the electric field (E) enabled precise control of partial polarization switching, supporting multi-level operation. Although issues related to fatigue and endurance cycles remain to be addressed, the high Pr and potential for multi-level operation are suitable for crossbar-based analog in-memory computing.

AB - The effect of oxygen-atom incorporation in 50-nm-thick ferroelectric Al0.89Sc0.11N films was investigated. The fabricated films exhibited a high remanent polarization (Pr) exceeding 100μC/cm2, irrespective of the oxygen content studied. An increase in oxygen content led to a decrease in coercive field (Ec) from 5.2 to 4.4 MV/cm and an increase in the static dielectric constant (ϵi) from 15 to 19. This was likely due to the formation of substitute O and Al vacancy complex defects to ease N-atom displacement. Additionally, higher oxygen content resulted in imprint effect elimination, leakage current reduction, and breakdown field (EBD) enhancement, which are beneficial for ferroelectric memory applications. The gentle and linear relationship between Pr and the electric field (E) enabled precise control of partial polarization switching, supporting multi-level operation. Although issues related to fatigue and endurance cycles remain to be addressed, the high Pr and potential for multi-level operation are suitable for crossbar-based analog in-memory computing.

KW - Ferroelectric AlScN

KW - endurance cycle

KW - multi-level operation

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U2 - 10.1109/LED.2024.3453111

DO - 10.1109/LED.2024.3453111

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85203615952

SN - 0741-3106

VL - 45

SP - 2090

EP - 2093

JO - Ieee Electron Device Letters

JF - Ieee Electron Device Letters

IS - 11

ER -

Oxygen-Atom Incorporated Ferroelectric AlScN Capacitors for Multi-Level Operation

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Keywords

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