Dielectric engineering in nanocrystal memory devices for improved programming dynamics

The paper presents the results of dielectric engineering in a silicon nanocrystal (Si NC) memory with high-k dielectrics. The programming instability in Si NC memory under the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) programming regime has been investigated theoretically, and, based on this, a Si NC memory device with the engineered control barrier has been fabricated and characterized.