Artificial synapse with hafnium oxide-based ferroelectric layer in CMOS back-end

A method of forming an artificial synaptic device, the method comprising the steps of:

• forming at least one complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device on a substrate;
• depositing an interlayer dielectric (ILD) onto the substrate and covering the at least one CMOS device;
• depositing a first metal layer onto the ILD;
• patterning the first metal layer into a plurality of bottom metal lines;
• depositing a first electrode layer onto the bottom metal lines;
• depositing a ferroelectric film onto the first electrode layer, wherein the ferroelectric film comprises a HfO2-based material;
• annealing the ferroelectric film under conditions sufficient to crystallize the ferroelectric film in an FE phase;
• depositing a second electrode layer onto the ferroelectric film;
• patterning the first electrode layer, the ferroelectric film, and the second electrode layer into artificial synapse elements;
• depositing a second metal layer onto the artificial synapse elements;
• and
• patterning the second metal layer into a plurality of top metal lines that run orthogonal to the bottom metal lines.