Thin film lithium niobate for use in silicon based devices

The incorporation of a thin film of lithium niobate (LiNbO3) in a conventional MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) structure gives the possibility of two fundamentally different types of computer memory architectures. One, based on ferroelectric switching involves the reorganization of charge in the transistor channel to compensate for the change in polarization. Another, based on the bulk photovoltaic effect, involves a shift in the transistor threshold with exposure to differing intensities of incident light. With the use of a molybdenum liftoff process, transistors have been fabricated in which LiNbO3 replaces the usual gate oxide of an MOS transistor. Transistor parameters such as the transconductance, output conductance, and amplification for these devices are reported.