Single layer of Ge quantum dots in HfO2 for floating gate memory capacitors

High performance trilayer memory capacitors with a floating gate of a single layer of Ge quantum dots (QDs) in HfO2 were fabricated using magnetron sputtering followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The layer sequence of the capacitors is gate HfO 2/floating gate of single layer of Ge QDs in HfO2/tunnel HfO 2/p-Si wafers. Both Ge and HfO2 are nanostructured by RTA at moderate temperatures of 600–700 °C. By nanostructuring at 600 °C, the formation of a single layer of well separated Ge QDs with diameters of 2–3 nm at a density of 4–5 × 1015 m–2 is achieved in the floating gate (intermediate layer). The Ge QDs inside the intermediate layer are arranged in a single layer and are separated from each other by HfO2 nanocrystals (NCs) about 8 nm in diameter with a tetragonal/orthorhombic structure. The Ge QDs in the single layer are located at the crossing of the HfO2 NCs boundaries. In the intermediate layer, besides Ge QDs, a part of the Ge atoms is segregated by RTA at the HfO2 NCs boundaries, while another part of the Ge atoms is present inside the HfO2 lattice stabilizing the tetragonal/orthorhombic structure. The fabricated capacitors show a memory window of 3.8 ± 0.5 V and a capacitance–time characteristic with 14% capacitance decay in the first 3000–4000 s followed by a very slow capacitance decrease extrapolated to 50% after 10 years. This high performance is mainly due to the floating gate of a single layer of well separated Ge QDs in HfO2, distanced from the Si substrate by the tunnel oxide layer with a precise thickness.

Keywords: quantum dots (QDs);HfO2;RTA;nanocrystals (NCs);Ge QDs;

Source:iopscience

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