Multilevel Operation in Scaled Back-End-of-Line Ferroelectric FETs With a Metal Interlayer

Multilevel Operation in Scaled Back-End-of-Line Ferroelectric FETs With a Metal Interlayer

Blog Article

Multi-level operation, conventionally obtained in ferroelectric devices thanks to a domain-dependent inhomogeneous polarization, poses a big challenge for highly-scaled ferroelectric devices, where the number of ferroelectric domains is drastically reduced.In this work, we study a highly scaled back-end-of-line (BEOL) compatible, ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET) that integrates here a metal interlayer in the gate stack.Through analytical models and calibrated TCAD simulations, we show how this device can achieve a multi-level operation exploiting the interplay between the ferroelectric polarization and the charge in the metal interlayer.Such a working principle does not rely on a domain-dependent inhomogeneous polarization, and the device operation is thus ensured also for a homogeneous ferroelectric material.

We also demonstrate that the charge in the interlayer altitude sunscreen can effectively stabilize the ferroelectric polarization even in the absence of a high concentration of trapped charges in the gate stack.The potentiation and depression curves for the readout conductance confirm that the proposed device can be operated as a memristor for neuromorphic computing applications.Moreover, we show how the choice of the dielectric in the metal-ferroelectric-dielectric-metal gate stack can be used as a design knob to reduce the device operation voltage.