Multifunctional\nReconfigurable Operations in an Ultra-Scaled\nFerroelectric Negative Transconductance Transistor

The integration of\nfunctional materials into electronic\ndevices\nhas become a key approach to extending Moore’s law by increasing\nthe functional density of electronic circuits. Here, we present a\ndevice technology based on ultrascaled ferroelectric, antiambipolar\ntransistors (ferro-AAT) with robust negative transconductance, enabling\na wide range of reconfigurable functionalities with applications in\nboth the digital and analog domains. The device relies on the integration\nof a hafnia-based ferroelectric gate stack on a vertical nanowire\ntunnel field-effect transistor. Through intentional gate/source overlap\nand tunnel-junction engineering, we demonstrate enhanced antiambipolarity\nwith a high negative transconductance that is reconfigurable using\nthe nonvolatile remanent polarization of the ferroelectric. Experimental\nvalidation highlights the versatility of this ferro-AAT in two implementation\nscenarios: content addressable memory (CAM) for high-density data\nsearch and reconfigurable signal processing in analog circuits. As\na single-transistor cell for CAMs, the ferro-AAT shows subpicojoule\noperation for one search with a compact footprint of ∼0.01\nμm<sup>2</sup>. For single-transistor-based signal modulation,\nmultistate reconfigurations and high power conversion (>95%) are\nachieved\nin the ferro-AAT, resulting in a significant reduction in the complexity\nof analog circuit design. Our results reveal that the distinctive\ndevice properties allow ferro-AATs to operate beyond conventional\ntransistors with multiple reconfigurable functionalities, ultrascaled\nfootprint, and low power consumption.