Non-volatile semiconductor memory device in which applied voltage to

Abstract

A semiconductor memory device is composed of a plurality of memory cells. Each memory cell is comprised of a field effect transistor formed on a semiconductor substrate, wherein said field effect transistor is composed of a gate electrode structure which is composed of a gate insulating film and a gate electrode provided thereon, and source and drain regions. The memory cell is further composed of a ferroelectric capacitor composed of a lower electrode connected to said gate electrode, an upper electrode, and a capacitive ferroelectric film disposed between said upper and lower electrodes. In this case, an area of said ferroelectric capacitor is smaller than an area of one of said gate electrode and an active region of said gate electrode such that an electric field applied to said ferroelectric film is larger than a coercive electric field of said ferroelectric film and an electric field applied to said gate insulating film is smaller than a breakdown electric field of said gate insulating film.