Advanced Electronic Materials最新文献

The rapid development of hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) thin films has established ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) as strong candidates for future non-volatile memory and logic-in-memory (LiM) technologies. While earlier reviews mainly offered broad overviews, this work introduces a conceptual framework connecting deposition methods, phase stability, and device performance. This work categorizes fabrication techniques (ALD, CVD, PVD, CSD) based on their influence on phase stabilization and transformation, supported by comparative tables and schematic diagrams illustrating their impact on FeFET operation. A dedicated section discusses reliability challenges (wake-up, fatigue, imprint, retention loss), contrasting ferroelectric capacitors (FeCAPs) with FeFETs to highlight device-level complexities. Additionally, a comparative performance table of reported FeFET stacks summarizes key metrics such as remanent polarization, threshold voltage control, retention, and endurance. By combining thorough comparison with conceptual categorization, this review provides both a structured perspective and practical insights into integrating HZO-based FeFETs into future computing systems.

i-MAX Phases

The cover art depicts the newly developed i-MAX phases, which can be exfoliated into 2D i-MXenes featuring distinct atomic arrangements and in-plane chemical ordering. These quaternary i-MAX phases exhibit unique structural patterns, such as a Kagome lattice, that impart outstanding magnetic, mechanical, and electronic characteristics. These structural motifs underscore the significant promise of i-MXenes as multifunctional materials for advanced applications. More information can be found in the Review by Bhoj Gautam and co-workers (10.1002/aelm.202500478).

Gas sensors are essential in applications ranging from environmental monitoring and industrial safety to healthcare diagnostics and consumer devices, where reliable and selective detection is critical. With growing demands for sensitivity, selectivity, and energy efficiency, sensor technology has evolved significantly. Historically, the field advanced from sentinel organisms and gas lamps to a range of sophisticated mechanisms. Yet, conventional sensors remain limited to passive detection, relying on separate units for memory and processing, which leads to higher power consumption, slower response, and reduced adaptability in dynamic environments. Neuromorphic sensing provides a compelling alternative by integrating sensing, memory, and computation in a single device, enabling compact, energy-efficient, and adaptive gas detection inspired by biological olfactory systems. This review begins with a concise overview of traditional semiconductor metal oxide gas sensors, providing a baseline for introducing memristor-based gas sensors, or “gasistors.” These devices represent a transformative shift, offering improved efficiency, reliability, and versatility in gas sensing electronics. We then highlight the neuromorphic in-memory gas sensing paradigm, with examples including electronic noses, bio-inspired olfactory systems, and spike-based computational frameworks. Finally, we discuss progress in materials, device architectures, and algorithms, and outline opportunities and challenges for realizing the full potential of neuromorphic gas sensing.

Ferroelectric metal nitride thin films, particularly AlScN, have recently emerged as transformative materials for next-generation electronics, owing to their high polarization, tunable coercive fields, exceptional endurance, and thermal stability. In pursuit of device miniaturization, atomic layer deposition (ALD) offers unparalleled advantages by delivering angstrom-level thickness precision and conformality on complex 3D architectures; yet most prior studies have relied on physical vapor deposition of films several hundred nanometers thick. Here, we demonstrate the plasma-enhanced ALD of B-doped AlN (AlBN) thin films, where systematic control of the AlN:BN cycle ratio precisely regulates B concentration, enabling direct elucidation of the interplay between composition, crystallinity, and ferroelectric behavior. Density functional theory provided mechanistic insight into B incorporation pathways, while piezoresponse force microscopy confirmed local polarization switching across all compositions, with the optimized AlBN film exhibiting the most pronounced P–E hysteresis loop. This composition further displayed low leakage current and endurance exceeding 10⁵ switching cycles. Collectively, these findings establish PEALD-grown AlBN as a robust ferroelectric nitride and highlight its promise as a CMOS-compatible, scalable alternative to AlScN for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies.

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) is increasingly important for the integration of layered metal dichalcogenides such as tin diselenide (SnSe₂) into advanced nanoelectronic devices, where compatibility with temperature-sensitive substrates and precise thickness control are essential. Using a novel and highly reactive selenium precursor, namely, bis(trimethylstannyl)selenide or Se(SnMe₃)₂, SnSe₂ films are deposited at reduced temperatures. As-deposited films are initially amorphous, however, post-deposition annealing at 250°C induces crystallization. Structural analysis reveals a clear evolution in crystallinity: ultrathin films (∼25 nm) exhibit nearly single-crystalline, defect-free domains, while thicker films (∼100 nm) transition to a polycrystalline structure. This controlled variation in crystal quality directly influences the electronic transport properties, demonstrating the potential of low-temperature ALD combined with mild annealing for scalable fabrication of high-performance, thickness-engineered SnSe₂-based devices.

T. Zhu, W. Xu, C. Peng, et al.: Mesoporous Carbon Sphere-Enhanced Flexible Pressure Sensor with Superior Linearity and Wide Range for Wearable Health Monitoring. Adv. Electron. Mater., 11, 2400985, (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202400985

There was a typographical error in the author list. The fourth author's name is “Lan Shi”. The error has also been corrected in the original article.

We apologize for this error.

In this work, the polarization-dependent operating characteristics of TiN/Hf_xZr_1-xO₂(HZO)/SiO₂/Si ferroelectric FETs (FeFETs) are investigated, and remote HZO/SiO₂ interface traps (D_it,FE/DE) are quantitatively separated from Si/SiO₂ interface traps (D_it0). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals an oxygen-vacancy (V_O)-rich HfSiO_x layer at the HZO/SiO₂ interface. Based on the transistor operation theory and trap/polarization-switching charge distribution, the difference in the W1 and W0 states is determined by whether the HZO/SiO₂ interface traps are filled and emptied, respectively. Subthreshold current method (SCM) shows that SS increases from ∼95 mV/dec (W1 state) to 110 mV/dec (W0 state), yielding effective interface trap density (D_it,eff) values of 4 × 10¹² and 7.8 × 10¹² cm⁻²eV⁻¹, respectively; their difference (3.8 × 10¹² cm⁻²eV⁻¹) corresponds to D_it,FE/DE. Methods that exploit the frequency-dependent response of the defect states–Multi-frequency C-V (MFCV) and Terman method (TM)–yield D_it0 and D_it,FE/DE values that match the SCM results. Accounting for the capacitive-projection factor of 2.5, the actual HZO/SiO₂ interface trap density (D_FE/DE) is ∼1 × 10¹³ cm⁻²eV⁻¹, approximately 2.5 times higher than D_it0. The combined SCM-MFCV-TM framework thus furnishes a rapid, purely electrical metric for monitoring HZO/SiO₂ quality and guides strategies to suppress remote trap-carrier interaction (RTCI)-driven degradation in FeFET performance.