Nanogate ferroelectric transistors with ultralow operation voltage of 0.6 V

Ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs), as an electric field-driven nonvolatile memory, offer extremely low power consumption and high speed. Despite efforts, FeFETs have not been successfully scaled down to sub-5-nanometer-node technology, with their operational voltage exceeding 1.5 V, making them unable to match monolithic logic cores. Our study used metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes as gate electrodes to shrink the gate length of molybdenum disulfide FeFET to 1 nanometer. This nanogate approach leads to an electric field concentration and enhanced ferroelectric-to-metal-oxide semiconductor capacitance coupling, resulting in a reduced operating voltage of 0.6 V, below the conventional ferroelectric coercive voltage. The nanogate molybdenum disulfide FeFETs exhibit superior memory performance, with a substantial current on/off ratio of 2 × 10⁶ and a rapid programming speed of 1.6 nanoseconds. This study demonstrates the immunity of nanogate FeFETs to short-channel effects, highlighting the notable potential of ferroelectric electronics for enabling superior scaling, performance, and energy efficiency in sub-1-nanometer-node chips.