memory operation and electron charging characteristics of silicon quantum-dot floating-gate MOSFETs

摘要

Memory operation of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures with a silicon quantum-dot (QD) floating gate has been demonstrated at room temperature. The unique hysteresis and the current bumps which are interpreted in terms of the electron charging or discharging of the QD floating gate have been observed in drain current versus gate voltage characteristics of QD floating-gate MOS field-effect transistors (FETs). From the analysis of the transient drain-current characteristics for a single-pulse gate bias, we also confirm that the multiple-step electron charging of the QDs occurs until reaching the stable state for one electron per dot.