DEVELOPMENT OF KNO(3) FERROELECTRIC MEMORIES

WE HAVE FABRICATED POTASSIUM NITRATE FERROELECTRIC MEMORIES IN THE FORM OF 32 X 32 CELL ARRAYS ON GLASS SUBSTRATES (1KB) AND MEASURED THEIR SWITCHING TIMES AND READ WRITE CHARACTERISTICS. THE THINNEST KNO(3) FILMS TESTED (75NM) YIELD 20 NS READ-WRITE TIMES AND HIGH BREAKDOWN VOLTAGES (17V). MINIMUM ADDRESS VOLTAGES OF 1.6V ARE ACHIEVED AT 150 NM THICKNESS. A THICKNESS WINDOW FROM 65 TO 800 NM IS COMPATIBLE WITH 4.5V STANDARD SILICON LOGIC LEVELS (TTL-CMOS). NEUTRON HARDNESS TO 5 X 10 TO THE 13TH POWER HAS BEEN MEASURED FORM SOME FILMS. WE WILL FABRICATE A NUMBER OF 1KB ARRAYS AND STUD THE PROCESSING PARAMETERS THAT INFLUENCE FATIGUE LIMITS. WE HAVE RECENTRLY DISCOVERED THAT A SINGLE 10V "RESTORE" PULSE RETURNS THE KNO(3) MEMORIES TO A STATE VERY NEAR THAT OF VIRGIN DEVICES. RELATED ELECTRICAL REMEDIES FOR FATIGUE/ENDURE PROBLEMS WILL BE ANALYZED UNDER THE PROPOSED WORK, TOGETHER WITH CHEMICAL APPROACHES INVOLVING DOPANTS.