Impact of high-κ dielectric and metal nanoparticles in simultaneous enhancement of programming speed and retention time of nano-flash memory

This paper demonstrates Al₂O₃ as gate dielectric with embedded Ag-NCs to synchronize the individual advantages offered by metal-NCs and high-k dielectric materials. Simultaneous achievement of enhanced programming speed and longer data retention has been a challenge in designing floating gate based memory devices. Replacement of SiO₂ by other materials with higher dielectric constants as gate dielectric has been proposed for enhancing programming speed without affecting the retention time.