Stochastic behavior of random telegraph noise in ferroelectric devices: Impact of downscaling and mitigation strategies for neuromorphic applications

Ryun-Han Koo, Wonjun Shin, Sung-Tae Lee, Daewoong Kwon and Jong-Ho Lee

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2025, vol. 191, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates the stochastic behavior of random telegraph noise (RTN) in ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) considering the downscaling effect and its implications for neuromorphic systems. Through low-frequency noise spectroscopy and DC current fluctuation measurements of fabricated FTJs with varying top electrode areas, we quantified the stochasticity of the tunneling current as a function of applied voltage and device area. Our results indicate a significant increase in RTN-related stochasticity with decreasing FTJ area, resulting in higher RTN amplitude and a greater number of devices exhibiting RTN. Analysis of the capture and emission time constants of RTN shows that RTN arises from the interaction between the metal top electrode and a dominant trap site, located 4 nm deep from the top electrode, with a trap energy 1.8 eV below the conduction band of the HZO layer. To assess the impact on neuromorphic systems, we performed system-level simulations incorporating the measured device non-idealities (nonlinearity, limited dynamic range) and stochasticity (1/f noise and RTN), and demonstrated that RTN can severely degrade system accuracy as device size decreases. To mitigate this problem, we proposed a limited dynamic range scheme that confines device operation to RTN-safe conductance levels, effectively minimizing accuracy degradation. This study clarifies the origin of the stochastic behavior of RTN in FTJs and also provides system-level solutions for high-density neuromorphic hardware systems affected by RTN.

Keywords: Random telegraph noise (RTN); Lorentzian noise; Low-frequency noise (LFN); Stochastic read noise; Current fluctuation; Ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ); Neuromorphic system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960077924014085
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:191:y:2025:i:c:s0960077924014085

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2024.115856

Access Statistics for this article

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals is currently edited by Stefano Boccaletti and Stelios Bekiros

More articles in Chaos, Solitons & Fractals from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Thayer, Thomas R. ().