Charge loss mechanism of non-volatile V3Si nano-particles memory device

Abstract

We studied the charge loss mechanism of a non-volatile memory device with vanadium silicide (V3Si) nano-particles (NPs) embedded in a silicon dioxide dielectric layer. To fabricate the memory device, V3Si NPs with an average size of 4-6 nm were formed between the tunnel and control oxide layers by a thin film deposition and a post-annealing process at 800 degrees C for 5s. Using the gate structure containing the V3Si NPs, a flash memory structure was fabricated with a channel length and width of 5 mu m. This device maintained the memory window at about 1V after 10(4)s when program/erase voltages of +/- 9V were applied for 1 s. The activation energies of the V3Si NP memory devices with charge loss rates of 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% were approximately 0.16, 0.24, 0.35, and 0.50 eV, respectively. The charge loss mechanism can be attributed to direct tunneling as a result of the NPs associating with the interface trap in the tunneling oxide, the Pool-Frenkel current, and the oxide defect.