Nonvolatile memory property of WSI2 and TISI2 nano-particles in SIO2 dielectrics

Abstract

We have fabricated the nano-floating gate capacitors with WSi2 and TiSi2 nano-particles embedded in the SiO2 dielectrics. The WSi2 and TiSi2 nano-particles were created from metal silicide films during rapid thermal annealing process, and they have spherical shapes with diameters of 2-5 nm. The electrical properties of the WSi 2 and TiSi2 nano-particles were characterized by using capacitance-voltage measurement. Then, the flat-band voltage shift due to the charging effect of WSi2 and TiSi2 nano-particles were measured about 4.37 V and 4.23 V, respectively, when the bias voltages were swept from -7 V to +7 V. And, their memory windows were decreased from 2.4 V to 1.6 V and 2.7 V to 1 V, respectively, after 1 hr. It showed that the nano-floating gate capacitors with WSi2 and TiSi2 nano-particles have a feasibility of application to nonvolatile memory devices.