Nanoscaled Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory (NVSM) SONOS Devices

这项研究和教育计划将研究超薄、异质绝缘体纳米结构中电子和空穴的量子力学传输和存储。纳米结构由氧化物-氮化物-氧化物(ONO)栅电介质组成。本研究主要研究超薄Ono介质中电荷俘获的量子力学问题。该项目将采用新型测试结构的组合，如线性电压斜坡和电荷泵浦，以确定氮化硅和氮氧化物存储层中以及隧道氧化物相反侧的Si-SiO_2界面区域中陷阱的空间和能量分布。材料参数的变化，以检查规模化的新型SONOS器件在编程(写入)和擦除模式下的保持和耐久性随操作温度的变化。这项研究致力于在SONOS器件中加入氢和氘，以提供高温下长时间擦除/写入循环下的长期保持；它还将解决栅电极对电荷分布和长期记忆保持的影响。采用先进的制备技术生长超薄隧道氧化物，并利用原子力显微镜、透射电子显微镜和角度分辨XPS等分析表征技术对这些超薄介质的空间结构和成分结构进行了分析。这项研究旨在了解先进半导体器件中超薄多电介质中的电荷捕获和存储，同时提供强大的教育计划和与行业合作伙伴关系的联系。

This research and educational program will address the quantum-mechanical transport andstorage of electrons and holes in ultra-thin, heteroinsulator nanostructures.The nanostructures arecomprised of an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO)gate dielectric. This research focuses on the quantum-mechanical aspects of charge trapping in ultra-thin ONO dielectrics. This project will employ a combination of novel test structures,such as linear voltage ramp and charge pumping,o determine the spatial and energetic distribution of traps in the silicon nitride and oxynitride storage layers and in the Si-SiO 2 interfacial region on the opposite side of the tunnel oxide. A variation of material parameters to examine retention and endurance of scaled novel SONOS devices in the program (write) and erase modes as a function of operational temperature. This research addresses the incorporation of hydrogen and deuterium in the SONOS device to provide long-term retention under extensiveerase/write cycling at elevated temperatures; it will also address the effect of the gate electrode on the charge distribution and long-term memory retention. Advanced fabrication techniques are used to grow ultra-thin tunnel oxides and analytical characterization techniques, such as AFM,TEM and angle-resolved XPS are employed to analyze the spatial and compositional structure of these ultra-thin dielectrics. This research seeks to understand charge trapping and storage in ultra-thin multi-dielectrics in advanced semiconductor devices while offering a strong educational program and link to industrial partnerships.