Physical Electronics of Nonvolatile Multi-dielectric Nanostructures

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9412466 White This research is concerned with the basic physical, electronic and material properties of multi-dielectric nanostructures which use quantum mechanical tunneling of carriers into deep-level storage traps. In some instances these traps are beneficial, such as in nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices; however, in other instances the traps are detrimental to solid-state device behavior and result in instabilities, such as in the shift of threshold voltages in MOS Transistors. In this research we examine the beneficial use of these traps in a new 'scaled' multi-dielectric, buried-channel, nanostructure which consists of polySilicon gate-blocking Oxide-silicon Nitride-tunnel Oxide-Silicon (SONOS). The traps are located in the silicon nitride and this research explores the physical mechanisms by which charge injection, transport and storage is accomplished in 'scaled' SONOS nanostructures. The origin and control of these traps is an important objective in this program as well as the understanding of electron and hole transport across interfacial boundaries. We will explore the spatial and energetic distribution of such traps with a new method (developed in our laboratory) based on low-frequency charge pumping. In addition, we will use recent advancements in atomic force microscopy (AFM) to provide visual images of the nanotopography of the multidielectric films used in the 'scaled' SONOS nanostructure. The SONOS nanostructure shows considerable promise for low voltage, low-power, high-density, non-volatile semiconductor memory applications, such as in portable semiconductor disks, application specific integrated circuits, wafer scale integration and electronic neural networks. ***