Fabrication and characterization of room temperature silicon single electron memory

A single electron memory was demonstrated in crystalline silicon that has a transistor channel width of ∼10 nm and a nanoscale floating gate of dimension ∼(7 nm × 7 nm × 2 nm), patterned by electron beam lithography, lift-off, and reactive ion etching. Quantized shift in the threshold voltage and self-limited charging process have been observed at room temperature. Analysis has shown that these quantized characteristics are the results of single electron charging effect in the nanoscale floating gate. © 1997 American Vacuum Society.