Memory Behavior of an Al₂O₃Gate Dielectric Non-Volatile Field-Effect Transistor

Non-volatile field-effect transistor (FET) with amorphous Al2O3 dielectric is demonstrated on Si substrate, which is enabled by the voltage modulation of the oxygen vacancy and negative charge dipoles in gate insulator. Ferroelectric-like behavior in TaN/Al2O3/Si0.70Ge0.30 stacks with different thicknesses of Al2O3 is proved by polarization-voltage tests, positive-up and negative-down tests, piezoresponse force microscopy, and electrical measurements. The Al2O3 capacitors attain over 108 cycles' endurance of polarization versus voltage measurement. A 6.5 nm-thick Al2O3 non-volatile FET achieves a memory window above 0.6 V under ±2 V at 100 ns program/erase (P/E) condition, over 104 cycles P/E endurance, and >105s data retention at room temperature.