Negative Capacitance FET With 1.8-nm-Thick Zr-Doped HfO2 Oxide

Abstract

We report on negative capacitance FETs (NCFETs) with a 1.8-nm-thick Zr-doped HfO2 gate oxide layer fabricated on an FDSOI wafer. Hysteresis-free operation is demonstrated. When compared to a baseline that uses HfO2 gate oxide with the same thickness, a subthreshold swing (SS) steeper by more than 20 mV/decade and larger than 10X reduction in the OFF current ( ${I}_{ \mathrm{OFF}}$ ) is observed at 30-nm channel length at constant ${I}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ . On the other hand, at matched ${I} _{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ , the NCFET provides a larger ON current at constant ${V}_{\mathrm {DD}}$ . Our results indicate that the beneficial characteristic offered by the NCFETs can be obtained at scaled channel lengths, while using oxide layers whose thickness is comparable to the high- ${K}$ oxide layer used in ultra-scaled nodes.