Effect of ion energy and dose on the positioning of 2D-arrays of Si nanocrystals ion beam synthesized in thin SiO2 layers

Silicon nanocrystals buried in a thin oxide can be used as charge storage elements and be integrated in standard CMOS technology to fabricate new non-volatile memory devices. The control of the distances between the nanocrystals layer and the two electrodes of the MOS determines the final characteristics of the device (write–erase and retention times). This 2D arrays of ncs can be elaborated by ion implantation. In this work, we study by TEM the effect of varying the beam energy and dose on the positioning of 2D-arrays of nanocrystals within View the MathML source thick oxide after annealing. Our results show that the “injection distance” can be precisely tuned in the 5–View the MathML source range by varying the beam energy.