The ferroelectric properties of ultrathin Y-doped HfO2 films were investigated. Ferroelectricity was demonstrated experimentally in 3 nm-thick Y-doped HfO2 via direct detection of displacement currents during polarization switching. The dependence on the HfO2 thickness within the 30 to 3 nm range revealed that the ferroelectric properties decrease rapidly below a critical thickness. In the ultrathin HfO2 region, methods such as higher Y doping or metal capping annealing were required to further stabilize the ferroelectric phase. These methods could be used to enhance the switchable polarization (Psw) to 35 μC/cm2 in 5 nm- and 10 μC/cm2 in 3 nm-thick Y-doped HfO2. This paper indicates that HfO2 ferroelectricity is scalable even in the ultrathin region.

The dopant-induced ferroelectric HfO2 formation has been systematically investigated by using cation (Sc, Y, Nb, Al, Si, Ge, and Zr) and anion (N) dopants. Both differences and similarities are discussed among various dopants by focusing on two major factors, the oxygen vacancy (Vo) and the dopant ionic size. First, the doping concentration dependence of the remanent polarization in 27 (±2) nm HfO2 films is quantitatively estimated. Then, by comparing the polarization result with the structural transformation in doped HfO2, the pathway of the dopant-induced HfO2 phase transition is discussed among monoclinic, ferroelectric orthorhombic, tetragonal, and cubic phases. Finally, it is addressed that a dopant species independent phase transition route may exist in HfO2 owing to the same kinetic transition process, in which the ferroelectric phase seems to be at an intermediate state between tetragonal and monoclinic phases.

We have examined an origin of the flatband voltage (VFB) shift in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors by employing bilayer high-k gate dielectrics consisting of HfO2 and Al2O3 on the interfacial SiO2 layer. We found that the high-k∕SiO2 interface affects the VFB shift through an electrical dipole layer formation at its interface, regardless of the gate electrode materials. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the VFB shift in the metal/high-k gate stack is determined only by the dipole at high-k∕SiO2 interface, while for the Si-based gate it is determined by both gate/high-k and high-k∕SiO2 interfaces.

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The electrical properties of ferroelectric Hf-Zr-O ultrathin films, particularly the dependences of remnant polarization, leakage current, coercive field, and breakdown field on the metal composition and film thickness, are systematically examined. Physical analyses show that the Hf-Zr-O films in this experiment consist of polycrystalline grains and contain both ferroelectric and dielectric phases. It is found that changes in metal composition and thickness strongly influence the remnant polarization and the leakage current simultaneously. In contrast, the coercive field was relatively unaffected by these parameters. This particular behavior of the coercive field suggests that the polarization switching in Hf-Zr-O films is predominantly determined by the nature of nanometer-scale ferroelectric domains dispersed in the films.

We report on the impact of TiN interfaces on the ferroelectricity of nondoped HfO2. Ferroelectric properties of nondoped HfO2 in TiN/HfO2/TiN stacks are shown in capacitance–voltage and polarization–voltage characteristics. The Curie temperature is also estimated to be around 500 °C. The ferroelectricity of nondoped HfO2 clearly appears by thinning HfO2 film down to ∼35 nm. We directly revealed in thermal treatments that the ferroelectric HfO2 film on TiN was maintained by covering the top surface of HfO2 with TiN, while it was followed by a phase transition to the paraelectric phase in the case of the open surface of HfO2. Thus, it is concluded that the ferroelectricity in nondoped HfO2 in this study was mainly driven by both of top and bottom TiN interfaces.

The temperature dependence of the tunneling transport characteristics of Si diodes with an isoelectronic impurity has been investigated in order to clarify the mechanism of the ON-current enhancement in Si-based tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) utilizing an isoelectronic trap (IET). The Al–N complex impurity was utilized for IET formation. We observed three types of tunneling current components in the diodes: indirect band-to-band tunneling (BTBT), trap-assisted tunneling (TAT), and thermally inactive tunneling. The indirect BTBT and TAT current components can be distinguished with the plot described in this paper. The thermally inactive tunneling current probably originated from tunneling consisting of two paths: tunneling between the valence band and the IET trap and tunneling between the IET trap and the conduction band. The probability of thermally inactive tunneling with the Al–N IET state is higher than the others. Utilization of the thermally inactive tunneling current has a significant effect in enhancing the driving current of Si-based TFETs.

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