A Novel p-n-Diode Structure of SONOS-Type TFT NVM With Embedded Silicon Nanocrystals

Author

Chiang, Tsung-Yu ; Ma, William Cheng-Yu ; Wu, Yi-Hong ; Wang, Kuan-Ti ; Chao, Tien-Sheng

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electrophys., Nat. Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan

Volume

31

Issue

11

fYear

2010

Firstpage

1239

Lastpage

1241

Abstract

In this letter, for the first time, a novel p-n-diode (PND) structure of SONOS-type thin-film transistor (TFT) nonvolatile memory (NVM) with embedded silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) in the silicon nitride layer using an in situ method is successfully demonstrated. This novel structure has many advantages, including high density and suitability for 3-D circuit integration. Hot-electron injection and hot-hole injection are used as the program and erase methods, respectively. The sensing current of the three-terminal PND-TFT NVM is 10^-7 A by the band-to-band tunneling current. A much larger memory window (> 12 V) and good data retention time (> 10⁸ s for 12% charge loss) are exhibited. The device appears to have great potential for system-on-panel applications.

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; hot electron transistors; p-n junctions; random-access storage; silicon; thin film transistors; tunnelling; SONOS-type TFT NVM; SONOS-type thin-film transistor; band-to-band tunneling current; embedded silicon nanocrystal; hot-electron injection; hot-hole injection; nonvolatile memory; p-n-diode structure; sensing current; three-terminal PND-TFT NVM; Logic gates; Nanocrystals; Nonvolatile memory; Programming; SONOS devices; Silicon; Band-to-band tunneling (BTBT); nonvolatile memory (NVM); p-n diode (PND); silicon nanocrystal (Si-NC); thin-film transistor (TFT);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2010.2064153

Filename

5565385