Impact of the Nonlinear Dielectric Hysteresis Properties of a Charge Trap Layer in a Novel Hybrid High-Speed and Low-Power Ferroelectric or Antiferroelectric HSO/HZO Boosted Charge Trap Memory

A novel hybrid antiferroelectric (AFE)-based charge trap (CT) memory is reported focusing on an amplified tunnel oxide field (
${E} _{\text {TO}}$
) via the dynamic of an AFE hysteresis dipole switching. The role of dynamic permittivity increase and the saturated polarization at the instant of the write operation are explored for enhanced
${E} _{\text {TO}}$
. The hybrid CT concept is studied by benchmarking the controlled properties of the HfO
₂
CT layer via the Si elemental doping in order to stabilize the linear dielectric (DE), ferroelectric (FE), or AFE response. The Si-doped HfO
₂
(HSO) with AFE stabilized phase shows the largest memory window (4.5 V) compared to the DE- or FE-based CT layers. The dynamic AFE dipole switching enables a maximized
${E} _{\text {TO}}$
at the instant of switching such that a high-speed and low-power CT memory is realized. The role of the tailored hysteresis shape on the
${E} _{\text {TO}}$
magnitude is studied for different Si contents and benchmarked to the Zr-doped hafnium oxide (HZO). The AFE CT multilevel coding as 1–3 bit/cell, the role of the pass voltage disturb, and a mini-NAND array operation are demonstrated. The global variability and area scalability of the HSO CT devices are studied to indicate the effect of Si content distribution and the area dependence of the AFE film variability. AFE CT devices are characterized for a switching speed (
$ < 1~\mu \text{s}$
), ten-year data retention, and
$10^{{5}}$
endurance. Moreover, the improved CT characteristics by the AFE dipole switching are explored for enhanced long-term potentiation and depression of a synaptic device.