Gold nanoparticles via alloy decomposition and their application to nonvolatile memory

Abstract

A technique for fabricating Au-rich nanoparticles via phase separation and subsequent oxidation of amorphous Au25Si75 sputtered thin films is presented. Nanoparticles formed in this manner are surrounded by SiO2 and have an average diameter of 2.88nm with an aerial density of 1.9×1012cm−2. Au-rich nanoparticles are incorporated into capacitor structures and the capacitance-voltage behavior is characterized. Significant hysteresis is observed and the flat-band voltage shift is attributed to charge storage due to the presence of the metal nanoparticles.

Metal nanocrystals as charge storage nodes for nonvolatile memory devices

“…Therefore, metallic materials with high work function, but not the precious metals, are more desirable. There are a number of reports on high work function materials with significant memory effects [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. For example, good memory effects were found for [30,31].…”

“…The memory effects of the Ag, Au, Pt, W, Co, Ni, NiSi 2 , Ni 1 − x Fe x , TiN and Al metal nanocrystals were investigated [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Devices with Au, Ag and Pt nanocrystals working in the F-N tunneling regime have been investigated and compared with Si nanocrystals memory devices.…”

Characterization and Properties of Nickel Aluminide Nanocrystals in an Alumina Layer for Nonvolatile Memory Applications

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] To solve the quantization limitations of semiconducting dots and facilitate higher carrier confinement, metallic NCs with high density of states and large work function have been the subjects of many important studies. [12][13][14] However, among metallic NC systems, Ni metal NCs in HfO 2 are not expected to have a large memory window. 5,6 Yang et al reported a HfO 2 /Ni NC/SiO 2 / Si metal-oxide-semiconductor device with a memory window of 1 V at ±5 V. 6 Metal silicide NC-NVM devices, however, have shown very promising memory characteristics.…”

Formation of cobalt-silicide nanocrystals in Ge-doped dielectric layer for the application on nonvolatile memory

“…[4][5][6] Among several kinds of NC devices, the metal and metal silicide NCs are considered to be beneficial in its variable work function, higher density of states around the Fermi level. [7][8][9] In addition, the dielectric layer that NCs embedded in can also contribute the charge storage sites by defects or traps created in the interfaces between different materials. 10,11 In this letter, the formation of cobalt-silicide NCs was investigated by adding Ge elements into the cobaltsilicide film using cosputtered Co and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 targets on tunnel oxide.…”