Five-day-long ferroelectric memory effect in Pt∕(Bi,La)4Ti3O12∕HfO2∕Si structures

In order to form metal–ferroelectric–semiconductor–insulator–semiconductor (MFIS) structures, hafnium oxide (HfO2) films were first deposited on Si(100) substrates at room temperature using an electron-beam evaporation method. Then, they were annealed in an O2 atmosphere at 800°C for 1min. No hysteretic characteristics were observed in the capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurement for the metal–insulator–semiconductor capacitors. On these films, lanthanum-substituted bismuth titanate [(Bi,La)4Ti3O12:BLT] films with 380nm in thickness were deposited by a sol–gel spin-coating method and annealed in an O2 atmosphere at 750°C for 30min. The MFIS sample showed the hysteretic C–V characteristics and the memory window width was about 0.9V for the voltage sweep of ±7V. Furthermore, the high and low capacitance values biased in the hysteresis loop were clearly distinguishable for over 5 days. The origin of the excellent data retention characteristics is discussed from a viewpoint of the transient current across the film.