학술논문

Ultrathin ferroic HfO2–ZrO2superlattice gate stack for advanced transistors
Document Type
Article
Source
Nature; April 2022, Vol. 604 Issue: 7904 p65-71, 7p
Subject
Language
ISSN
00280836; 14764687
Abstract
With the scaling of lateral dimensions in advanced transistors, an increased gate capacitance is desirable both to retain the control of the gate electrode over the channel and to reduce the operating voltage1. This led to a fundamental change in the gate stack in 2008, the incorporation of high-dielectric-constant HfO2(ref. 2), which remains the material of choice to date. Here we report HfO2–ZrO2superlattice heterostructures as a gate stack, stabilized with mixed ferroelectric–antiferroelectric order, directly integrated onto Si transistors, and scaled down to approximately 20 ångströms, the same gate oxide thickness required for high-performance transistors. The overall equivalent oxide thickness in metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors is equivalent to an effective SiO2thickness of approximately 6.5 ångströms. Such a low effective oxide thickness and the resulting large capacitance cannot be achieved in conventional HfO2-based high-dielectric-constant gate stacks without scavenging the interfacial SiO2, which has adverse effects on the electron transport and gate leakage current3. Accordingly, our gate stacks, which do not require such scavenging, provide substantially lower leakage current and no mobility degradation. This work demonstrates that ultrathin ferroic HfO2–ZrO2multilayers, stabilized with competing ferroelectric–antiferroelectric order in the two-nanometre-thickness regime, provide a path towards advanced gate oxide stacks in electronic devices beyond conventional HfO2-based high-dielectric-constant materials.