Multilevel charging and discharging mechanisms of vertically stacked Ni1-xFex self-assembled nanoparticle arrays embedded in polyimide layers

Abstract

Capacitance-voltage curves for the Al/polyimide (PI)/multilayered Ni1-xFex nanoparticle array/PI/p-Si (100) devices at 300 K showed that the flatband voltage shift of the metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor was affected by the value of sweep voltage, indicative of the variations in the charged electron number in the multiple-stacked Ni1-xFex nanoparticle arrays in the floating gate. Current-voltage results showed that the electron charging and discharging in the Ni1-xFex nanoparticles were attributed to thermionic emission and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, respectively. The multilevel charging and discharging mechanisms of vertically stacked Ni1-xFex self-assembled nanoparticle arrays embedded in PI layers are described on the basis of the experimental results.