Nonvolatile memory characteristics of NMOSFET with siliver nanocrystals synthesized by thermal decomposition process

Nonvolatile memory characteristics are presented with Ag nanocrystals (NCs) formed by a thermal decomposition process for a flash memory application. A size of NC and a space of NC-to-NC were precisely controlled by a size-selective precipitation technique and the length of self-assembled monolayer surrounding NCs, respectively. The size and density of Ag NCs synthesized by the thermal decomposition were typically 3-5 nm and 2.7 times 10¹² cm^-2. Nonvolatile memory operations with relatively high speed and superior endurance characteristics were reported from NMOSFETs embedding metal NCs, which were fabricated by the gate last process.