Fabrication of Ferroelectric Gate Thin‐Film Transistors with a Lanthanum‐Doped HZO Gate Insulator and Indium‐Tin‐Oxide Channel via a Solution Process

Abstract

In recent years, lanthanum‐doped hafnium–zirconium dioxide (La‐HZO) has garnered attention as a material for application in ferroelectric devices; moreover, atomic layer deposition has been applied to prepare La‐HZO films with metal–ferroelectric–metal structures. This article describes the fabrication of ferroelectric La‐HZO thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via a solution process. The dependence of the electrical properties on the La concentration of La‐HZO films annealed at 800 °C in vacuum is also discussed. The film with a La concentration of 8 at% exhibits the highest remanent polarization, whereas undoped HZO exhibits paraelectric behavior. Additionally, the leakage current of La‐HZO specimens tends to be significantly lower than that of undoped HZO. Furthermore, a higher annealing temperature corresponds to better ferroelectric properties and a lower leakage current. The characterization of fabricated ferroelectric gate thin‐film transistors (FGTs) with an 8 at% La‐HZO gate insulator and indium‐tin‐oxide channel is shown to confirm typical n‐channel transistor operation, i.e., a counterclockwise hysteresis loop in the transfer curve; this is attributable to the ferroelectric nature of the La‐HZO gate insulator. The results demonstrate that the proposed FGT design offers a low subthreshold voltage swing, high on/off drain current ratio of 106, large on‐current, and large memory window.