14 - Ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) devices

Abstract

We review the history of, and recent advances in, ferroelectric memory, including ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM or FeRAM). FRAM is the first among advanced non-volatile memories, such as magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM) and resistive random access memory (ReRAM), to be commercialized. Highly reliable FRAM with a memory density of a few Mb is currently available. Since FRAM has excellent electric properties, such as a high speed read/write (<50 ns), high switching endurance (≧1013) and low power consumption, it has been applied to radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, advanced smartcards and so on. We also describe newly developed materials, fabrication processes and circuit technology, which are expected to overcome the scalability problem of FRAM.