A Design Strategy for Achieving Non-Volatility, Ultra-Low Operating Voltage, and High Reliability in Antiferroelectric HZO Capacitors

In this study, we introduce a top electrode structure based on a TiN/work-function metal stack for antiferroelectric (AFE) hafnium-zirconium oxide (HZO) capacitors, aiming to achieve the precise control of built-in electric field within AFE HZO films for the non-volatile operation. Furthermore, a selective area electrical activation (SAEA) technique is employed to pretreat the AFE HZO film, thereby effectively suppressing the imprint effect. Using this approach, we achieved both the high memory window (2Pr= ~20 μC/cm²) and ultralow operating voltage (10¹⁰ cycles) and long data retention (>10⁴ s). The AFE HZO capacitor demonstrated in this work provides a foundation for the development of low-power, high-density, and logic-compatible AFERAM, paving the way for its potential application in future eDRAM.