Paper

Demonstration of Vertical 2T-nC FeRAM Hybrid Cell and Its Scalability for High-Density 3-D Ferroelectric Capacitor Memory

Abstract

In this work, we present a comprehensive experimental and modeling study on the scaling of vertical 2T-nC ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) hybrid cells, comprising n metal–ferroelectric–metal (MFM)capacitors, to demonstrate a high-performance and highdensity 3-D capacitor memory. Our contributions include: 1) successful process integration of vertical 2T-3C FeRAM cells by stacking MFM structures on top of Si CMOS transistors; 2) experimental validation of memory cell functionality, confirming the feasibility of the vertical 2T-nC FeRAM architecture; 3) an analysis of scaling effects on parasitic capacitance in densely integrated 3-D arrays, using 3-D technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations; 4) exploration of aggressive stacking of write bitlines (WBLs) to enhance memory density, where ferroelectric linear capacitance (CFE) enables self-boosted inhibition under the V W/2 scheme, but renders the V W/3 scheme ineffective due to intolerable write disturbances; and 5) assessment of horizontal scaling, revealing significant increases in read disturbances caused by interplane capacitance between adjacent WBLs (CZ). This work represents an early exploration into the potential of 2T-nC FeRAM as a scalable and efficient 3-D memory solution.