High-perfomance nonvolatile HfO2 nanocrystal memory

Abstract

In this letter, we demonstrate high-performance nonvolatile HfO2 nanocrystal memory utilizing spinodal phase separation of Hf-silicate thin film by 900 degreesC rapid thermal annealing. With this technique. a remarkably high nanocrystal density of as high as 0.9 similar to 1.9 X 10(12) cm(-2) with an average size < 10 nm can be easily achieved. Because HfO2 nanocrystals are well embedded inside an SiO2-rich matrix and due to their sufficiently deep energy level, we, for the first time, have demonstrated superior characteristics of the nanocrystal memories in terms of a considerably large memory window, high-speed program/erase (P/E) (1 mus/0.1 ms), long retention time greater than 10(8) s for 10 % charge loss, and excellent endurance after 10(6) P/E cycles.