Large Capacitive Memory Window Achieved in Ferroelectric HZO Capacitor With NbO _x Insertion Layer for Non-Destructive Read

Non-destructive read operation (NDRO) based on a non-volatile memory window has proven effective in decoupling the read and write process. In this work, an asymmetric <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">C-V</i> curve in the Hf<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.5</sub>Zr<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.5</sub>O<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (HZO) ferroelectric capacitor is achieved by inserting an NbO<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> bottom layer. The device exhibits a remarkable relative permittivity capacitive memory window (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CMW</i><sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ε</sub>) of 12.3 at 0 V, low dynamic power consumption of 0.45 fJ/μm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, and nearly zero static power consumption. Furthermore, the read endurance exceeding 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sup> cycles and the write endurance of 2 × 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sup> cycles without wake-up behavior are obtained. These improvements are mainly attributed to the optimized ferroelectricity and modified oxygen vacancy distribution induced by the NbO<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> layer. This work offers a straightforward structural framework for optimizing the non-destructive read ferroelectric capacitor.