Theoretical and experimental investigation of Si nanocrystal memory device with HfO/sub 2/ high-k tunneling dielectric

This paper describes improved memory characteristics of the Si nanocrystal memory devices by replacing the traditional SiO/sub 2/ with HfO/sub 2/ high-k dielectrics for the first time. Thanks to the combination of a lower electron barrier height and a larger physical thickness of HfO/sub 2/ as compared with SiO/sub 2/, the fabricated device shows excellent programming efficiency and data retention characteristic. The single-electron charging effect is clearly observed at room temperature. It also shows superior data endurance up to 10/sup 6/ write/erase cycles.