Inserting inhibition layer for inducing antiferroelectricity to ferroelectric structure

An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:

• a first electrode;
• and
• a ferroelectric structure vertically stacked with the first electrode, wherein the ferroelectric structure comprises:
• a first ferroelectric layer;
• a second ferroelectric layer overlying the first ferroelectric layer;
• and
• a first inhibition layer between and bordering the first and second ferroelectric layers, the first inhibition layer being a different material type than that of the first and second ferroelectric layers;
• wherein the first ferroelectric layer has a hafnium zirconium oxide with a higher zirconium doping concentration, and the second ferroelectric layer has a hafnium zirconium oxide with a lower zirconium doping concentration and a smaller thickness than the first ferroelectric layer,
• wherein the first ferroelectric layer and the second ferroelectric layer respectively have a thickness less than 8 nm.

An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:

• a lower ferroelectric layer with a first material type disposed over a substrate;
• a first inhibition layer overlying the lower ferroelectric layer and comprising a second material type different than the first material type;
• and
• an upper ferroelectric layer disposed directly on the first inhibition layer;
• a second inhibition layer at a bottom of the lower ferroelectric layer, wherein the second inhibition layer is of the same material and thickness as the first inhibition laver;
• a third inhibition layer at a top of the upper ferroelectric layer, wherein the third inhibition layer is of the same material and thickness as the first inhibition layer;
• and
• an additional ferroelectric layer disposed directly on the third inhibition layer, wherein the additional ferroelectric layer has the same material and thickness as the upper ferroelectric layer, which are different from material and thickness of the lower ferroelectric layer,
• wherein a tetragonal-phase dominates the upper ferroelectric layer.