Researchers close in on new nonvolatile memory

Nanowerk  December 10, 2019 The emergence of ferroelectricity in nanometer-thick films of doped hafnium oxide (HfO2) makes this material a promising candidate for use in Si-compatible non-volatile memory devices. To make ferroelectric capacitors usable as memory cells, their remnant polarization has to be maximized. An international team of researchers (Germany, Russia, USA – North Carolina State University, University of Nebraska) developed a new methodology to experimentally quantify the polarization-dependent potential profile across a few-nanometer-thick ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films. They found the electric potential profile across the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 layer to be non-linear and changes with in-situ polarization switching. The non-linear potential […]