A SILICON SINGLE-ELECTRON TRANSISTOR MEMORY OPERATING AT ROOM-TEMPERATURE

A single-electron memory, in which a bit of information is stored by o ne electron, is demonstrated at room temperature, The memory is a floa ting gate metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor in silicon with a chann el width (similar to 10 nanometers) smaller than the Debye screening l ength of a single electron and a nanoscale polysilicon dot (similar to 7 nanometers by 7 nanometers) as the floating gate embedded between t he channel and the control gate, Storing one electron on the floating gate screens the entire channel from the potential on the control gate and leads to (i) a discrete shift in the threshold voltage, (ii) a st aircase relation between the charging voltage and the shift, and (iii) a self-limiting charging process. The structure and fabrication of th e memory should be compatible with future ultralarge-scale integrated circuits.