Ferroelectric Tunnel Junction Optimization by Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

Ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) based on alloyed HfO 2 and ZrO 2 is emerging as a promising two-terminal device candidate for the crossbar array for high density memory and compute-in-memory. FTJ is able to operate under non-destructive read mechanism as opposed to the ferroelectric capacitor. Herein, we report an optimized fabrication process that boosts the on-state current while suppressing the off-state current leading to an improved performance in Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) based FTJs. The plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposited (PEALD) of HZO and the incorporation of an interlayer Al 2 O 3 are keys to improve the HZO-based FTJ in terms of the on/off ratio and cycling endurance.