Intel Corporation
Anti-ferroelectric capacitor memory cell

Abstract:

Described herein are anti-ferroelectric (AFE) memory cells and corresponding methods and devices. For example, in some embodiments, an AFE memory cell disclosed herein includes a capacitor employing an AFE material between two capacitor electrodes. Applying a voltage to one electrode of such capacitor allows boosting the charge at the other electrode, where nonlinear behavior of the AFE material between the two electrodes may advantageously manifest itself in that, for a given voltage applied to the first electrode, a factor by which the charge is boosted at the second electrode of the capacitor may be substantially different for different values of charge at that electrode before the boost. Connecting the second capacitor electrode to a storage node of the memory cell may then allow boosting the charge on the storage node so that different logic states of the memory cell become more clearly resolvable, enabling increased retention times.