Integration of lead-free ferroelectric on HfO(2)/Si (100) for high performance non-volatile memory applications

We introduce a novel lead-free ferroelectric thin film (1-x)BaTiO(3)-xBa(Cu(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3) (x = 0.025) (BT-BCN) integrated on to HfO(2) buffered Si for non-volatile memory (NVM) applications. Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM), x-ray diffraction, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy were employed to establish the ferroelectricity in BT-BCN thin films. PFM study reveals that the domains reversal occurs with 180° phase change by applying external voltage, demonstrating its effectiveness for NVM device applications. X-ray photoelectron microscopy was used to investigate the band alignments between atomic layer deposited HfO(2) and pulsed laser deposited BT-BCN films. Programming and erasing operations were explained on the basis of band-alignments. The structure offers large memory window, low leakage current, and high and low capacitance values that were easily distinguishable even after ~10(6) s, indicating strong charge storage potential. This study explains a new approach towards the realization of ferroelectric based memory devices integrated on Si platform and also opens up a new possibility to embed the system within current complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor processing technology.