The August Technology Transfer feature celebrates a project that is of great importance to SRC member companies, “Low Temperature HZO Ferroelectric Technology for FEOL and BEOL Applications.” The project is led by Dr. Jiyoung Kim at the University of Texas, Dallas in collaboration with Dr. Chang-Yong Nam from Brookhaven National Lab.

The team is dedicated to studying and characterizing ferroelectric thin films fabricated at low crystallization temperatures. These materials can lead to more energy-efficient and faster memory devices. Additionally, the lower temperature processes can reduce manufacturing costs and are more compatible with existing fabrication methods, leading to better integration and innovation in semiconductor technology. Ferroelectric thin films are important to microelectronics and advanced packaging because they can enable novel functionalities such as non-volatile memory, logic, and neuromorphic computing with low power consumption and high speed. For these reasons, the successful adoption and integration of ferroelectric materials in the design and fabrication of scaled devices is highlighted in the MAPT Roadmap as a potential solution to overcome challenges associated with conventional CMOS.

This research is particularly significant to our members due to the advantages ferroelectric devices offer in terms of scalability and integration with CMOS devices. However, the deposition and annealing temperatures of HZO (hafnium zirconium oxide) films present challenges to back end of the line (BEOL) processes due to the high-temperature requirements. Dr. Kim’s team has conducted extensive studies on HZO recrystallization, annealing temperatures in various environmental conditions, providing vital information to sponsors on ferroelectric devices and their applicability in BEOL applications. This work is paving the way for the deposition of highly scalable, low-temperature, and reliable HZO films.

This research is sponsored by GRC member companies, including Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Intel Corporation, Samsung, SK hynix, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Reviewers consider the “very nice work” these teams are doing to be highly valuable and multiple industry liaisons signed up to help monitor and guide the research. The project has resulted in five publications and has produced excellent research results, thanks to the contributions of several highly qualified graduate and undergraduate students.

Undergrad and graduate students that work on SRC research projects get industry-relevant experience while developing their technical skills.  Notable member company hires from the Jiyoung Kim Research Group include:

• Ye-Eun Hong hired by Samsung in 2024
• Dr. Jaidah Mohan hired by Micron in 2023
• Dr. Yongchan Jung hired by Intel in 2022
• Dr. Su Min Hwang hired by Samsung in 2022
• Dr. Akshay Sahota hired by Intel in 2022
• Dr. Harrison Kim hired by Intel in 2020
• Dr. Arul V. Ravichandran hired by ASM in 2020
• Joy Lee hired by Intel in 2019 (now at Atomica)
• Dr. Jaebeom Lee hired by ASM in 2019
• Meredith Lee hired by Texas Instruments in 2018 (now at Bell Flight)

View Dr. Jiyoung Kim's GRC Logic and Memory Devices project 3001.001, https://app.pillar.science/projects/5520/overview.