Nonvolatile gate effect in the PZT/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure

Field effect devices with ferroelectric gates can be a valuable alternative to existing ferroelectric capacitor memories combining random access, high speed, low power, non-destructive reading, and non-volatility. However, integrating the ferroelectric oxides with the semiconductor media presents a complicated issue impeding the progress in the field. AlGaN/GaN heterostructures offer a promising solution for the ferroelectric gate integration because of good chemical and thermal stability and possibility to fabricate structures with two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) as close to the interface as 15–20 nm. In the present work we report on successful fabrication of the PZT/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure and demonstrate the possibility to modulate resistance of the 2DEG at the AlGaN/GaN interface using the ferroelectric gate. The effect of polarization reversal of 2DEG provoke a reversible non-volatile change in the resistance of 2DEG. These results suggest that ferroelectric gates integrated into GaN-based heterostructures may be potentially interesting for non-volatile memories with non-destructive reading operating in a wide temperature range.