The identification of traps in HfO₂-based FeFET with SiON as an interlayer using current transient method

Abstract This work investigates the current transient and trap characteristics of Si FeFET with HfZrO ferroelectric and SiON as the interfacial layer. The trap characteristics in the trapping/detrapping process based on the drain current and gate leakage current transients are analyzed. Four traps, denoted as DP 1 ( τ ∼ 0.1 s), DP 2 ( τ ∼ 1 s), DP 3 ( τ ∼ 10 s), and DP 4 ( τ ∼ 50 s), with different time constants are demonstrated. It is discovered that DP 1 and DP 2 are thermally activated with activation energies of 0.2 eV and 0.05 eV, respectively. DP 3 and DP 4 are not thermally activated. According to the different time constants and activation energies as well as the dependence of the gate and drain trapping voltages, the possible positions of these traps are identified as follows: DP 1 is the HfZrO bulk trap, and DP 2 is near the HfZrO/SiON interface. DP 3 and DP 4 are traps with different time constants near the Si/SiON interface.