Pt Nanocrystals Embedded in Remote Plasma Atomic-Layer-Deposited HfO2 for Nonvolatile Memory Devices

Abstract

Pt nanocrystals using HfO2 as tunneling and control layers were investigated for nonvolatile memory application. A Pt layer was deposited by electron-beam evaporation and transformed into well-separated nanocrystals by rapid thermal annealing at 700 degrees C. The fabricated Pt nanocrystals had a density of 2.1x10(12) cm(-2) and an average size of 3.7 nm. The capacitance-voltage measurements demonstrate that the nonvolatile memory with Pt nanocrystals had a memory effect with similar to 0.9 V flatband voltage shift under a gate voltage of 5 V. The device showed a competitive retention characteristic with a charge loss rate of 20% after 10(4) s.