Synthesis and electron storage characteristics of isolated silver nanodots on/embedded in Al2O3 gate dielectric

Monolayer-isolated silver (Ag) nanodots with the average diameter down to 7 nm are synthesized on Al2O3/Si substrate by vacuum electron-beam evaporation followed by annealing at 400 8C in N2 ambient. Metal–insulator-silicon (MIS) structures with Ag nanodots embedded in Al2O3 gate dielectric are fabricated. Clear electron storage effect with the flatband voltage shift of 1.3 eV is observed through capacitance–conductance and conductance–voltage measurements. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of applying Ag nanodots for nanocrystal floating-gate memory devices. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.