A hybrid ferroelectric-flash memory cells.

A ferroelectric-flash (F-flash) memory cells having a metal-ferroelectric-nitride-oxynitride-silicon structure are demonstrated, and the ferroelectric materials were perovskite-dominated Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) crystallized by Pt gate electrode. The PZT thin-film as a blocking layer improves electrical and memorial performance where programming and erasing mechanism are different from the metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor device or the conventional silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon device. F-flash cells exhibit not only the excellent electrical transistor performance, having 442.7 cm² V^-1 s^-1 of field-effect mobility, 190 mV dec^-1 of substhreshold slope, and 8 x 10⁵ on/off drain current ratio, but also a high reliable memory characteristics, having a large memory window (6.5 V), low-operating voltage (0 to -5 V), faster P/E switching speed (50/500 µs), long retention time (>10 years), and excellent fatigue P/E cycle (>10⁵) due to the boosting effect, amplification effect, and energy band distortion of nitride from the large polarization. All these characteristics correspond to the best performances among conventional flash cells reported so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]