Passivated TiN nanocrystals/SiN trapping layer for enhanced erasing in nonvolatile memory

Gay, G.; Belhachemi, D.; Colonna, J. P.; Minoret, S.; Brianceau, P.; Lafond, D.; Baron, T.; Molas, G.; Jalaguier, E.; Beaurain, A.; Pelissier, B.; Vidal, V.; Salvo, B. De

doi:10.1063/1.3501129

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the last two decades Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies became more and more important and found an increasing number of applications. One example concerns the discovery of the photoluminescence of porous silicon in the earlier 90's which launched an intense research activity in different directions [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. It was found that this photoluminescence effect was due to the presence of silicon nanocrystals embedded in different kinds of matrixes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…L. Pavesi and his co-workers however demonstrated that if silicon nanocrystals or quantum dots are embedded in a silicon dioxide matrix there is a significant optical gain in both transmission and waveguide configurations [20]. In the same way nanocrystallites are also synthesised and embedded in the SiO 2 channel between the source and the drain, as quantum dots, for Single electron devices [5,[21][22][23][24][25] and photo and electroluminescent devices [26][27][28]. More recently it was found that nanoparticles can also have very interesting biomedical applications as for example for cancer treatment or cell culture [29][30][31][32][33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dusty plasma for nanotechnology

Boufendi¹,

Jouanny²,

Kovačević³

et al. 2011

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dusty plasma for nanotechnology

Boufendi¹,

Jouanny²,

Kovačević³

et al. 2011

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) on a 20 nm technology node [1], the scaling of tunneling oxide thickness is one of the key issues for conventional floating gate memory devices. Recently, many nanocrystals with the advantages of many energy levels as well as high charge-trapping probability, high-speed with a low program/erase voltage operation, high scalability potential, excellent endurance, and data retention, and so forth, have been reported [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Due to higher density of states around the Fermi level, discrete charge storage in the nanocrystals and stronger coupling with conduction channel, the thickness of tunneling oxide can be reduced for metal or metal oxide nanocrystal memory devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The metal nanocrystals embedded in high-κ tunneling barriers with high thermal stability (∼1000 • C) are needed in future nanoscale nonvolatile memory applications, that can follow the conventional complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process line. Recently, the TiN nanocrystal memory devices were reported with process temperatures of 1000 • C [7] and ∼1050 • C [10]. Due to the high melting point (∼1200 • C [11]) and high work function (Φ m > 4.7 eV) of ruthenium oxide (RuO x ) materials, this nanocrystal can be also used as a chargestorage node in nanoscale flash memory device applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature-Dependent Physical and Memory Characteristics of Atomic-Layer-DepositedRuOxMetal Nanocrystal Capacitors

Maikap

Banerjee

Tien

et al. 2011

Journal of Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physical and memory characteristics of the atomic-layer-depositedRuOxmetal nanocrystal capacitors in an n-Si/SiO2/HfO2/RuOx/Al2O3/Pt structure with different postdeposition annealing temperatures from 850–1000°C have been investigated. TheRuOxmetal nanocrystals with an average diameter of 7 nm and a highdensity of 0.7 × 1012/cm2are observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy after a postdeposition annealing temperature at 1000°C. The density ofRuOxnanocrystal is decreased (slightly) by increasing the annealing temperatures, due to agglomeration of multiple nanocrystals. The RuO3nanocrystals and Hf-silicate layer at the SiO2/HfO2interface are confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. For post-deposition annealing temperature of 1000°C, the memory capacitors with a small equivalent oxide thickness of ~9 nm possess a large hysteresis memory window of >5 V at a small sweeping gate voltage of ±5 V. A promising memory window under a small sweeping gate voltage of ~3 V is also observed due to charge trapping in theRuOxmetal nanocrystals. The program/erase mechanism is modified Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling of the electrons and holes from Si substrate. The electrons and holes are trapped in theRuOxnanocrystals. Excellent program/erase endurance of 106cycles and a large memory window of 4.3 V with a small charge loss of ~23% at 85°C are observed after 10 years of data retention time, due to the deep-level traps in theRuOxnanocrystals. The memory structure is very promising for future nanoscale nonvolatile memory applications.

show abstract

“…For example, discontinuous TiN films are utilized for nonvolatile memory devices. [7][8][9] These various application areas state different and sometimes opposite demands to the initial film nucleation and growth. Making very thin but continuous films implies a better pronounced lateral two-dimensional (2D) growth in comparison to their vertical growth.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth of Sub-Nanometer Thin Continuous TiN Films by Atomic Layer Deposition

Bui¹,

Kovalgin²,

Wolters³

2012

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This work reports on the initial growth of atomic layer deposited titanium nitride thin films on SiO 2 substrate at temperatures of 350-425 • C and process pressures of 2.6-3.2 × 10 −2 mbar. We used spectroscopic ellipsometry for in situ monitoring the growth, atomic force microscopy and electrical measurements for further film characterization. We demonstrate that the growth obeys Stranski -Krastanov mode with an initial 2D growth followed by a 3D island formation. The growth of the islands eventually leads to coalescence. We found the 2D-3D transition to be independent of temperature whereas the coalescence of the 3D islands is strongly affected by temperature. The former takes place as the film thickness reaches 0.69 ± 0.1 nm, which is equivalent to 3 monolayers of TiN. The latter occurs at a thickness of 2.5 ± 0.1 nm for 350 • C and at a thickness of 3.5 ± 0.1 nm for 425 • C.During last several decades, titanium nitride (TiN) has gained much interest because of its low resistivity and compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Thin TiN films made by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are commonly used as diffusion barriers and gate material for CMOS devices. 1-6 In these applications, formation of a continuous film is crucial since this strongly affects its barrier and electrical properties. However, for specific applications, formation of layers at thicknesses before their closure point can be preferred. For example, discontinuous TiN films are utilized for nonvolatile memory devices. 7-9 These various application areas state different and sometimes opposite demands to the initial film nucleation and growth. Making very thin but continuous films implies a better pronounced lateral two-dimensional (2D) growth in comparison to their vertical growth. In contrast, the formation of discontinuous granular films requires a preferential three-dimensional (3D) growth. Therefore, both reliable monitoring and the ability to manipulate the initial film growth are needed to achieve the desired film properties and to further explore the ultimate potential of ultrathin films.The initial growth and continuity of ALD TiN on SiO 2 were previously studied by Satta et al. using low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) techniques. 10,11 The ALD of TiN was carried out at temperatures of 350 and 400 • C with a maximum gas pressure of 2 Torr in the chamber. The authors reported that the initial growth of the film was dominated by Volmer -Weber mechanism (3D growth) as the reactant chemisorption preferentially took place on the already deposited TiN islands rather than on the remaining uncovered SiO 2 surface. Similar observation was reported by Patsalas et al. where the TiN was prepared by sputtering technique. 12 However, the initial growth of a film is strongly influenced by kinetics processes which include the adsorption and desorption, capture by surface steps and clusters, and renucleation. 13 These processes are affected by various deposition conditions suc...

show abstract

Passivated TiN nanocrystals/SiN trapping layer for enhanced erasing in nonvolatile memory

Cited by 16 publications

References 9 publications

Dusty plasma for nanotechnology

Dusty plasma for nanotechnology

Temperature-Dependent Physical and Memory Characteristics of Atomic-Layer-DepositedRuOxMetal Nanocrystal Capacitors

Growth of Sub-Nanometer Thin Continuous TiN Films by Atomic Layer Deposition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About