Impact of physical parameters of ferroelectric layer on the performance of Negative Capacitance (NC) MOSFETs is experimentally studied in this paper. Electrical behaviors of PZT-based and Si:HfO 2 -based NC-FETs are investigated and discussed. In a PZT-based p-type NC-FET, a sub-thermal swing down to 20mV/dec is achieved due to the remarkable voltage gain of NC, reaching a maximum value of 10V/V. Nevertheless, the performance improvements with Si:Hf5O 2 NC booster are significantly lower than PZT due to the coexistence of different phases and also high leakage current which can enormously reduce the enhancement by NC.
Ultrathin films of the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] have recently attracted intensive research interest due to their potential applications in emerging organic devices. As special geometry confinement systems, many aspects about their processing, microstructure, and performance are far from being well understood. Here, the cooperative molecular orientation, macroscopic ferroelectric properties, and nanoscale polarization switching behaviors of thermally crystallized ultrathin P(VDF-TrFE) films were investigated. With increasing annealing temperature, the films showed a distinct granule toward layered needle-network (LNN) morphology transition with deteriorated ferroelectricity at a critical point (T(cr)) around 140 °C. Accompanying this is that the polymer backbone first lay more parallel relative to the substrate, and then exactly at T(cr) it showed an abrupt standing-up reorientation. Interestingly, the polarization axis simultaneously showed just opposite orientation and reorientation. Nanoscale polarization switching characterization by using piezoresponse force microscopy and local ferroelectric hysteresis loops revealed a varied molecular orientation in the same needle grain and a polarization reversal constraint effect by the inhomogeneous LNN structure. On the basis of these observations, a tilted-chain lamellae structural model was proposed for the LNN film. The lying down of the polarization axis and the polarization reversal constrain effect well explain the inferior performance of the LNN film despite its higher crystallinity than that of the granular film. The results may shed some light on the understanding of the intercorrelation among the thermal crystallization, microstructure, and macroscopic performance of ultrathin polymer films.
This letter reports for the first time a full experimental study of performance boosting of tunnel FETs (TFETs) and MOSFETs by negative capacitance (NC) effect. We discuss the importance of capacitance matching between a ferroelectric NC and a device capacitance to achieve hysteretic and non-hysteretic characteristics. PZT ferroelectric capacitors are connected to the gate of three terminals TFETs and MOSFETs and partial or full matching NC conditions for amplification and stability are obtained. First, we demonstrate the characteristics of hysteretic and non-hysteretic NC-TFETs. The main performance boosting is obtained for the non-hysteretic NC-TFET, where the ON-current is increased by a factor of 500 times, transconductance is enhanced by three orders of magnitude, and the low slope region is extended. The boosting of performance is moderate in the hysteretic NC-TFET. Second, we investigate the impact of the same NC booster on MOSFETs. Subthreshold swing as steep as 4 mV/decade with a 1.5-V hysteresis is obtained on a commercial device fabricated in 28-nm CMOS technology. Moreover, we demonstrate a non-hysteretic NC-MOSFET with a full matching of capacitances and a reduced subthreshold swing down to 20 mV/decade.
This work experimentally demonstrates negative capacitance MOSFETs in hysteretic and non-hysteretic modes of operation. A PZT capacitor is externally connected to the gate of commercial nMOSFETs fabricated in 28nm CMOS technology to explore the negative capacitance effect. In hysteretic devices, subthreshold slope as steep as 10mV/dec is achieved in the region where the ferroelectric represents an S-shape polarization. In addition, a matching condition is achieved between a PZT capacitor and the gate capacitance of MOSFETs fabricated on SOI substrates. For the first time, we achieve a non-hysteretic switch configuration in our fabricated MOSFETs, suitable for analog and digital applications, for which a reduction in the subthreshold swing is obtained down to 20mV/dec.
Oscillator networks are known for their interesting collective behavior such as frequency locking, phase locking, and synchronization. Compared to other artificial neural network implementations, timing rather than amplitude information is used for computation. We have fabricated and simulated small networks of coupled VO 2 oscillators and investigated the electrical behavior. It is demonstrated experimentally and through simulations that the coupled oscillators lock in frequency and the phase relation can be adjusted by the coupling resistance. Pattern recognition was simulated in resistor-coupled networks with up to nine oscillators (pixels), demonstrating the possibility of implementation of this task with compact VO 2 circuits.
This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Fatigue in FeRAM: macroscopic results invoking nano scale features Investigating cycling induced suppression of switchable polarization in FeCaps Appearance of frozen polarization nano domains Nano scale hysteresis loops of fatigued FeCaps Size effect on the polarization patterns in μ-sized ferroelectric film capacitors Downscaling of ferroelectric capacitors Size induced polarization instability Direct observation of inversely-polarized frozen nanodomains in fatigued Fe-Caps Removable electrodes Inversely-polarized nanodomains
Long-term stability of high- and low-resistance states in full-organic ferroelectrically gated graphene transistors is an essential prerequisite for memory applications. Here, we demonstrate high retention performance for both memory states with fully saturated time-dependence of the graphene channel resistance. This behavior is in contrast with ferroelectric-polymer-gated silicon field-effect-transistors, where the gap between the two memory states continuously decreases with time. Before reaching saturation, the current decays exponentially as predicted by the retention model based on the charge injection into the interface-adjacent layer. The drain current saturation attests to a high quality of the graphene/ferroelectric interface with low density of charge traps.
Controlled propagation speed of individual magnetic domains in metal channels at the room temperature is obtained via the non-volatile field effect associated with the switchable polarization of P(VDF-TrFE) (polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) ferroelectric polymer. Polarization domains directly written using conducting atomic force microscope probe locally accelerate/decelerate the magnetic domains in the 0.6 nm thick Co film. The change of the magnetic domain wall velocity is consistent with the magnetic anisotropy energy modulation through the polarization upward/downward orientation. Excellent retention is observed. The demonstrated local non-destructive and reversible change of magnetic properties via rewritable patterning of ferroelectric domains could be attractive for exploring the ultimate limit of miniaturization in devices based on ferromagnetic/ferroelectric bilayers.
Use of ferroelectric domain-walls in future electronics requires that they are stable, rewritable conducting channels. Here we demonstrate nonthermally activated metallic-like conduction in nominally uncharged, bent, rewritable ferroelectric-ferroelastic domain-walls of the ubiquitous ferroelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 using scanning force microscopy down to a temperature of 4 K. New walls created at 4 K by pressure exhibit similar robust and intrinsic conductivity. Atomic resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy confirms the conductivity confinement at the wall. This work provides a new concept in "domain-wall nanoelectronics".
