“…Recently, Gadolinium oxide materials such as Gd 2 O 3 have been used as high-k charge trapping layers due to their high dielectric constant (k~18), wide band gap (5.8e6.4 eV), large conduction band offset (2.21 eV), and stability at high temperature [5e9]. Nano-crystalline (NC) particles of Gd 2 O 3 embedded in silica glass have been used as memory devices, including crystallized Gd 2 O 3 -NC memory comprised of a Gd 2 O 3 nano-dot surrounded by amorphous Gd 2 O 3 dielectrics [10,11]. Current research shows Gd 2 O 3 to be one of the most promising alternative metal oxides for use in flash memory applications.…”