Improved Ferroelectricity and Tunneling Electro Resistance in Zr-Rich HfxZr1-xO2 Ferroelectric Tunnel Junction

HfO2 based ferroelectric materials have great application potential in ferroelectric tunneling junction. Here, the low temperature annealed Zr-Rich HfxZr1-xO2 films based ferroelectric tunnel junction is fabricated on a silicon substrate. It is found that ferroelectricity of the film under operating voltages of 3.3V, 3.5V and 3.7V are excellent, where the largest residual polarization 2Pr is above 50 mu C/cm(2). The excellent ferroelectricity enables the device to operate at an extremely high speed of 50ns and achieve a high tunneling electro resistance ratio (>50). Based on the first principal calculation, we found that Zr-Rich HfxZr1-xO2 films will show more O-phase and less T-phase. This research paves the pathway to improve the performance of the HfO2 based ferroelectric tunneling junction for future ferroelectric application.

Automated summary

A low temperature annealed Zr-Rich Hf_xZr_(1-x)O_2 film based ferroelectric tunnel junction is fabricated on a silicon substrate. The film exhibits excellent ferroelectricity under operating voltages of 3.3V, 3.5V, and 3.7V, with the largest residual polarization 2Pr exceeding 50 μC/cm2. The device operates at an extremely high speed of 50ns and achieves a high tunneling electro resistance ratio (>50). Based on first-principle calculations, it is found that Zr-Rich Hf_xZr_(1-x)O_2 films will exhibit more O-phase and less T-phase. This research lays the foundation for improving the performance of HfO2 based ferroelectric tunneling junctions for future ferroelectric applications.