Sub-1.2V operational, 0.15/spl mu/m/12F/sup 2/ cell FRAM technologies for next generation SoC applications

We have successfully demonstrated a 0.15/spl mu/m/12F/sup 2/ (0.27/spl mu/m/sup 2/) cell ITIC, COB FRAM. The key technologies for the achievement of the world smallest FRAM cell are newly developed 200nm thick ferroelectric capacitor stack technology and novel one-mask capacitor etching technology. Integration induced hydrogen damage was minimized by a new Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ barrier processed at elevated temperature. The fully processed experimental 64k bit array of the 0.27/spl mu/m/sup 2/ FRAM cell shows a sensing window of 260mV at 1.2V. The minimum operation voltage was 0.9V. The cell size and operating voltage meet the requirements for embedded applications.