FeFETs for Near-Memory and In-Memory Compute

Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors (FeFETs), where a ferroelectric material is placed on the gate of a transistor has seen resurgence in the recent years with the advent of doped HfO
2
as a ferroelectric material [1]. Here we will discuss the potential and challenges for FeFETs as a memory solution for near-memory and in-memory computing. The ability to integrate the ferroelectric oxide on high-performance Si channels means that fast READ speed is achievable. In addition, recent demonstrations have shown that HfO
2
based Ferroelectrics scale down to very small footprint area, which should enable achieving very large density. These aspects together with the fact that write energy in the device is low (<1fJ), point to the potential of a very high bandwidth, low power, embedded memory that could be highly beneficial to AI applications.