Statistical emission of electrons from nanocrystalline silicon quantum dot memory nodes in a few-electron MOSFET memory device

Operation of a short and narrow channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) memory device with a few nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) dots in the active region has been investigated at 300 and 30 K. The discrete shift of the threshold voltage (Vth) in the current-voltage characteristics that arises from the screening effect of the charge stored in the nc-Si dot above the FET channel, suggests memory operation. It is found that the value of Vth changes with temperature whereas the magnitude of the shift in Vth is independent of temperature. The lifetime of the electrons stored in the floating node has also been investigated at different read voltages.