A small data-line-swing read/write scheme is described for half-Vcc plate nonvolatile DRAMs with ferroelectric capacitors designed to achieve high reliability for read/write operations. In this scheme, the normal read/write operation holds the data as a charge with a small data-line-swing, and the store operation provides sufficient polarization with a full data-line-swing. This scheme enables high read/write endurance, because the small data-line-swing reduces the fatigue of the ferroelectric capacitor. Two circuit technologies are used in this scheme to increase the operating margin. The first is a plate voltage control technique that solves the polarization retention problem of half-Vcc plate nonvolatile DRAM technologies. The second is a doubled data-line-capacitance recall technique that connects two data lines to a cell and enlarges the readout signal compared to normal operation, when only one data line is connected to a cell. These techniques and circuits improve the write-cycle endurance by almost three orders of magnitude, while reducing the array power consumption during read/write operations to one-third that of conventional nonvolatile DRAMs.

The crystallization process of Sr0. 7Bi2. 3Ta2O9 (SBT) ferroelectric thin films with different crystal orientations formed by chemical liquid deposition using an alkoxide precursor was investigated. One film showed strong c-axis orientation (a-type film), while another shows scarcely any c-axis orientation (b-type film). We report that the crystallization process was the same even when crystal orientation differed. Thin films first change from amorphous to fluorite fine grains; the fluorite grains then change to bismuth layer-structure grains. The different orientation of the SBT films is not caused by different crystallization process. Both SBT films with different crystal orientations consist of fine fluorite grains after 650 heat-treatment. Their leakage current density characteristics differ, however. The leakage current density of the a-type film was independent of the electric field, and showed a low value of 10-8 A/cm2. The leakage current density of the b-type film, however, was dependent on the electric field, and increased continuously with the increasing electric field. After 700 heat-treatment, both films consist of large grains with bismuth layer-structure and fine fluorite grains. The matrix of both films contains large grains with bismuth layer-structure that determines the leakage current density characteristics. Since the fluorite grain size after a 700 heat-treatment is the same as that after 650 heat-treatment, nucleation is predominant at the structural phase boundary from amorphous to fluorite. The bismuth layer-structure grains are large and single-crystal grains after both a 700 and 800 heat-treatment. Increased grain size predominates at the structural phase boundary from fluorite to bismuth layer-structure grains. Clearly, ferroelectric SBT films with bismuth layer-structure are crystallized in two steps, each having a different predominant crystal growth mechanism.

Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we studied structural defects in a Sr0. 7Bi2. 3Ta2O9 (SBT) thin film to be used for ferroelectric memory devices. We examined the effects of the substrate, crystal continuity, and dislocations in crystals as major causes of defects. For this study, we used an SBT thin film grown from an alkoxide solution. Since crystal growth was hardly influenced by the substrate, the substrate had little influence on the occurrence of defects resulted in misfit of lattice constant. Regions of partially low crystal continuity were observed in the SBT thin film. In these regions, the orientation was still uniform, but the continuity of the crystal grain was low because of the defects. In addition, variation in contrast was observed in the crystals, however, no obvious variation in chemical composition was found in this region of varying contrast. Therefore, the contrast variation is considered to be attributed to the dislocation. Such a dislocation was found to be occurred in the direction of the (2010) plane in many instances. The defects in the SBT film were also confirmed by the TEM observation.

Sr0. 7Bi2. 3Ta2O9(SBT) films are drawing attention as fatigue-free materials. We prepared an SBT film containing discontinuous crystals in the Bi-layered compound using a misted deposition method. In comparison to films prepared by the spin-on method, leakage current was low and spontaneous polarization is high but saturation performance was low. The low saturation performance seems attributable to the inclusion of discontinuous crystals in the Bi-layered compound, while the low leakage current may be explained by the films smaller, denser particles, which form a film without voids, resulting in higher uniformity. The misted deposition method has advantages of finer grain size and higher uniformity.

An architecture for a high-density nonvolatile memory with ferroelectric capacitors is proposed and simulated. The architecture includes: (1) the operation procedure for DRAM-like memory cells with a Vcc/2 common plate, (2) commands and pin arrangement compatible with those of DRAMs. The resulting ferroelectric memory is expected to show, in addition to nonvolatility, high performance in terms of speed, active power dissipation, and read endurance. In addition, the memory can be handled in the same way as DRAMs. The proposed basic operations are confirmed by using circuit simulations, in which an equivalent circuit model for ferroelectirc capacitors is incorporated. A problem remaining with the architecture is low write endurance due to fatigue along with polarization switching. Designing the reference-voltage generator for 1T1C (one-transistor and one-capacitor) cells, while considering signal reduction along with fatigue, will be another issue for achieving high-density comparable to that of DRAMs.