Substrate-dependent differences in ferroelectric behavior and phase diagram of Si-doped hafnium oxide

Abstract Non-volatile memories based on ferroelectric hafnium oxide, especially the ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET), have outstanding properties, e.g. for the application in neuromorphic circuits. However, material development has focused so far mainly on metal–ferroelectric–metal (MFM) capacitors, while FeFETs are based on metal–ferroelectric–insulator–semiconductor (MFIS) capacitors. Here, the influence of the interface properties, annealing temperature and Si-doping content are investigated. Antiferroelectric-like behavior is strongly suppressed with a thicker interface layer and high annealing temperature. In addition, high-k interface dielectrics allow for thicker interface layers without retention penalty. Moreover, the process window for ferroelectric behavior is much larger in MFIS capacitors compared to MFM-based films. This does not only highlight the substrate dependence of ferroelectric hafnium oxide films, but also gives evidence that the phase diagram of ferroelectric hafnium oxide is defined by the mechanical stress. Graphic Abstract