Nonvolatile Memory Effects of ZnO Nanoparticles Embedded in an Amorphous Carbon Layer

Abstract

Nonvolatile memory devices utilizing ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in an amorphous carbon (a-C) dielectric layer were investigated by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. C-V curves for the Al/ZnO NPs embedded in an amorphous carbon layer/SiO2/p-Si capacitor at 298 K showed a clockwise hysteresis with flat band voltage shift due to charge trapping in the ZnO NPs. Capacitance-time measurements showed that the devices exhibited excellent memory retention ability under ambient conditions. Operating mechanism for the memory devices was proposed based on the C-V results.