Retention properties of fully integrated (Bi,La)4Ti3O12 capacitors and their lateral size effects

We investigated the retention characteristics of (Bi,La)4Ti3O12 (BLT) capacitors and their lateral size effects in a fully integrated device structure. Unlike the commonly used Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 capacitors for ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAMs), which have poor opposite-state retention characteristics, BLT capacitors showed very stable characteristics in both the same- and the opposite-state retention tests. These good retention properties were closely related to the small amount of imprint in the BLT capacitors. In addition, the retention characteristics of BLT capacitors showed no practical degradation due to the size reduction, down to 0.49×0.64μm2, which could be used for highly integrated FeRAMs of 32MB density.