Leuven | More than two weeks ago
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in ferroelectrics for low power integrated electronics such as memory. The discovery of ferroelectric hafnia has led to scaling of layers to sub 10 nm thicknesses enabling use in modern technology nodes. However, the polymorphic nature of hafnia yields poor endurance and across-wafer repeatability. Complex oxides such as perovskites offer an extremely flexible structure class of materials that offer a wide variety of single-phase ferroelectrics with tunable properties, ideal for next generation ferroelectric memories. It has been shown that polycrystalline BaTiO3 can be scaled to 10nm thickness while maintaining, if not enhancing, ferroelectric response [1]. However, its high process temperature and low 2Pr make it incompatible with the BEOL processes required for integration. Materials discovery is required to find an alternative to BaTiO3 with higher 2Pr that can be grown under BEOL compatible conditions.
The growth and nanoscale engineering of fab-compatible
complex oxide ferroelectric thin films will be explored with the aim of scaling
these novel materials to below 10nm under challenging BEOL compatible
conditions. Strain engineering will be utilized along with growth kinetic
manipulation to target the high remanent polarization and low coercive voltages
required to enable the two-dimensional integration of these materials in 1T1C
FeRAM devices.
[1] Bagul et al., accepted for publication in Advanced Electronic Materials (2024)
Required background: Physics, chemistry, materials or equivalent
Type of work: 100% experimental
Supervisor: Clement Merckling
Co-supervisor: Sean McMitchell
Daily advisor: Sean McMitchell
The reference code for this position is 2025-066. Mention this reference code on your application form.