Charge Storage and Variable Temperature Data Retention Characteristics of Nitrided Titanium Oxide Nonvolatile Memory Device

In this letter, electrical characteristics of TiO
₂
and nitrogen incorporated TiO
₂
(TiON) as the charge storage layer (CSL) in charge storage memories are investigated. Compared with the charge storage memory device with the TiO
₂
CSL, the one with the TiON CSL exhibits a wider flatband voltage hysteresis window (10 V at ±12 V), a higher program response (flat-band voltage shift = 1.842 V at 15 V/1 ms voltage pulse), and a minor charge loss (11.15% after 10
⁴
s at 25 °C). Furthermore, the energy levels of charge trapping sites in TiO
₂
and TiON CSLs, extracted from temperature-dependent retention measurement, are 0.185 and 0.391 eV, respectively. Microstructure and interface composition of TiO
₂
and TiON CSLs are examined to understand the distinct charge storage performances of two memory devices.