The electrical characteristics of metal-ferroelectric (PbZr/sub x/Ti/sub 1-x/O/sub 3/)-insulator(Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/)-silicon structure for non-volatile memory applications

A metal ferroelectric insulator-silicon (MFIS) structure using lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) as the ferroelectric layer and Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ as the insulator layer is fabricated. This structure is studied for the potential application of nonvolatile memory devices. High frequency C-V measurements show a flat band voltage shift of 13 V under a /spl plusmn/15 V writing pulse. The interface-trap density D/sub it/ is measured by the conductance method. The MFIS capacitors are shown to have a fatigue lifetime of 1/spl times/10/sup 11/ cycles and 5/spl times/10/sup 7/ cycles for 11.4 V and 15 V writing pulses, respectively.