Review of the science and technology for low- and high-density nonvolatile ferroelectric memories

Abstract

The new millennium has witnessed the coming to age of one of the major fields of research of the twentieth century, i.e., the field of ferroelectrics. Major advances occurred in the last two decades in research related to the science and technology of ferroelectric (high permittivity) and related metallic and metal-oxide thin films and their integration into layered heterostructures for application to the development of nonvolatile ferroelectric memories (FeRAMs). The high dielectric permittivities of perovskite-type materials can be advantageously used in dynamic random access memories (DRAM) [1], while the large values of switchable remanent polarization of ferroelectric materials are suitable for nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAM) [2-16]. The research performed during the last two decades focused on developing both the scientific and technological bases of ferroelectric films and layered heterostructures and their integration into ever evolving device architectures and the development of new device architectures for high-performance FeRAMs [1-10, 14-17].