HfON/LaON as charge-trapping layer for nonvolatile memory applications

Author

Huang, X.D. ; Lai, P.T.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

fYear

2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

3

Abstract

The charge-trapping characteristics of HfON/LaON composite film (denoted as HfLaON) were investigated based on an Al/Al₂O₃/HfLaON/SiO₂/Si (MONOS) capacitor. The physical properties of the high-k film were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction spectroscopy. Compared with another MONOS capacitor with nitrided La₂O₃ as charge-trapping layer, the one with HfLaON showed better memory characteristics in terms of larger memory window, higher program speed (6.3 V at +14 V for 100 μs), and smaller charge loss (8.2% after 10⁴ sec), due to the HfLaON composite film exhibiting an amorphous structure and the suppressed formation of an interlayer at the HfLaON/SiO₂ interface.

Keywords

electron spectroscopy; flash memories; hafnium compounds; high-k dielectric thin films; lanthanum compounds; transmission electron microscopy; HfON-LaON; MONOS capacitor; amorphous structure; charge loss; charge-trapping layer; composite film; electron diffraction spectroscopy; high-k film; memory characteristics; memory window; nonvolatile memory application; physical properties; program speed; transmission electron microscopy; Capacitors; Electron traps; Films; Hafnium compounds; Logic gates; MONOS devices; Nonvolatile memory; HfLaON; charge-trapping; nonvolatile memory;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices and Solid State Circuit (EDSSC), 2012 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Bangkok

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-5694-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EDSSC.2012.6482795

Filename

6482795