Our technology
Goes one step further
FMC has patented technology that leverages the ferroelectric properties of hafnium oxide. In its non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic crystal phase, the left ensemble of four red oxygen atoms in the unit cell exhibit two thermally stable sets of positions.
An externally applied electric field can switch them reversibly between the upper and the lower positional configuration corresponding to the dipole of the unit cell flipping down- or upward. A “natural memory process” like this, that is triggered electrically, makes ferroelectrics the perfect choice to build a storage device.
An important features of the above process is that the resulting charge displacement of the dipole switching is much larger than normal dielectric charge separation achieved by the same field in a non-polar unit cell as used by conventional DRAM. Moreover, the dipole charge of a ferroelectric capacitor is stored in the position of the ions and does not get lost through leakage current.
The discovery of ferroelectricity in hafnium oxide thin films was a big surprise in this well-studied material. As a state-of-the-art high-k dielectric, its compatibility with both memory and logic integration routes is proven and mature ALD processes exist. This promised to overcome scaling issues of conventional ferroelectric memory and induced a renaissance of R&D on ferroelectric memories.
In the past years, these development efforts have demonstrated exceptional temperature stability, endurance, retention, and switching speed characteristics similar to traditional ferroelectrics – this time, however, with 100% CMOS compatibility!
FMC memory technology is characterized by
Persistence for your
power operation
High speed / high data
throughput
Wide temperature range (industrial/automotive/AI)
True progress doesn’t come from stretching legacy technologies to their limits, but from radically rethinking foundational principles. That’s exactly what FMC is doing: redefining memory technology with a solution that combines speed, energy efficiency, and scalability. That’s why I strongly support FMC’s initiative.
Joël Hartmann | Ex. Chairman ST Micro Holdings
Ex. EVP Technology & Manufacturing ST Micro
Inside the Memory Shift
A thought leader series by FMC on the future of memory. Experts reveal how DRAM+ and CACHE+ technology is reshaping AI and infrastructure.
Fast, persistent, and ready to scale.
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