Physical Electronics of Nonvolatile Multi-dielectric Nanostructures

9412466白色这项研究涉及多介质纳米结构的基本物理、电子和材料性质，这种结构使用量子力学将载流子隧穿到深能级存储陷阱中。在某些情况下，这些陷阱是有益的，例如在非易失性半导体存储器件中；然而，在其他情况下，陷阱不利于固态器件的行为并导致不稳定性，例如在MOS晶体管中的阈值电压的移动。在这项研究中，我们研究了这些陷阱在由多晶硅栅极阻挡氧化物-氮化硅-隧道氧化物-硅(SONOS)组成的新的“按比例”多介质、掩埋沟道、纳米结构中的有益用途。陷阱位于氮化硅中，本研究探索了SONOS纳米结构中电荷注入、传输和存储的物理机制。这些陷阱的起源和控制是本计划的一个重要目标，也是了解电子和空穴在界面上的传输的一个重要目标。我们将用一种基于低频电荷抽运的新方法(我们实验室开发的)来探索这种陷阱的空间和能量分布。此外，我们将利用原子力显微镜(AFM)的最新进展，提供用于Sonos纳米结构的多介质薄膜的纳米形貌的可视图像。SONOS纳米结构在低电压、低功耗、高密度、非易失性半导体存储器应用中显示出巨大的前景，例如在便携式半导体磁盘、专用集成电路、晶片规模集成和电子神经网络中。***

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. ***