The first vertically stacked ferroelectric aluminium doped hafnium dioxide (HfO2) device for NAND applications has been demonstrated by imec.The first vertically stacked ferroelectric aluminium doped hafnium dioxide (HfO2) device for NAND applications has been demonstrated by imec.
Using a new material and a novel architecture, the Belgian nanoelectronics research centre has created a non-volatile memory concept with the potential to improve power consumption, switching speed, scalability and retention.
According to imec, ferro-electric memory has always been considered ideal, due to its very low power needs, non-volatile character and high switching speed. However, issues with the complex materials, the breakdown of the interfacial layer and bad retention characteristics have presented significant challenges. The recent discovery of a ferro-electric phase in HfO2, a well-known and less complex material, has triggered a renewed interest in this memory concept.
“With HfO2, there is now a material with which we can process ferro-electric memories that are fully CMOS compatible. This allows us to make a ferro-electric FET (FeFET) in both planar and vertical varieties,” said Jan Van Houdt, imec’s chief scientist for memory technology.
“FeFETs can be used as a technology to build memory very similar to flash memory, but with additional advantages for further scaling, simplified processing, and power consumption.
“It is, in fact, suitable for both stand-alone and embedded memories at various points in the memory hierarchy, going all the way from non-volatile DRAM to flash-like memories. It has particularly interesting characteristics for future storage-class memory, which will help overcome the current bottleneck caused by the differences in speed between fast processors and slower mass memory.”
Author
Peggy Lee
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk