Enablement of CMOS integrated sensor, harvesting and storage applications by ferroelectric HfO2

The CMOS compatible material hafnium dioxide shows the ferroelectric effect if deposited as thin film and stabilized in the orthorhombic phase. Next to the scaling potential of ferroelectric memories like FRAM or FeFET, the inherent pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties can be addressed. Indeed, both effects are proven in HfO2 thin films and the according coefficients surpass further CMOS compatible materials and partially reach the high values of common non-CMOS materials like PZT. By that, silicon integration of miniaturized sensors, energy harvesters and energy storage is possible and the current status of developing such applications is reviewed in this paper.