Integration and Performance Improvements of Silicon Nanocrystal Memories

摘要

The silicon nanocrystal memory, that is one of the most promising devices for future non-volatile memory, is extensively investigated by experiments and simulation. The silicon nanocrystal memory cells are successfully integrated using the state-of-the-art 0.13 μm DRAM technology. The mechanism of the two-bit-per-cell operation, that is one of the unique features of silicon nanocrystal memory, is investigated and it is shown that the degree of DIBL determines the read scheme of the two-bit-per-cell operation. Moreover, the dependences of memory characteristics on device structures are examined by fabrication and measurements and it is found that the ultra-thin-body SOI and double-gate structures have better memory characteristics.