First demonstration and performance improvement of ferroelectric HfO<inf>2</inf>-based resistive switch with low operation current and intrinsic diode property

Abstract

We demonstrate, for the first time, a CMOS compatible ferroelectric HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> -based two-terminal non-volatile resistive switch; HfO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ). The device has characteristics of nA-range operation current, self-compliance, and intrinsic diode properties, as well as good device to device uniformity. Simultaneous achievement of these characteristics, which was not reported in the other two-terminal emerging memories, is significant advantage for future non-volatile applications. Accurate understanding of switching mechanism based on first-principles calculations and material characterization enabled us to establish a solid guideline for performance improvement: scaling of both ferroelectric layer and interfacial layer thickness. As a consequence, reduction of operation voltage while maintaining sufficient ON/OFF ratio was successfully demonstrated.