FOWLER-NORDHEIM TUNNELING CURRENT IN A MG POLYCRYSTALLINE SI OXIDE/N+POLYCRYSTALLINE SI METAL-OXIDE-SILICON STRUCTURE/

Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from a Mg/polycrystalline silicon oxide/n+ p olycrystalline silicon structure has been studied. The Fowler-Nordheim tunneling barrier height is greatly reduced using Mg as the cathode i nstead of monocrystalline silicon (denoted by Si) or polycrystalline s ilicon (denoted by polycrystalline Si). A minimum value of 0.94 eV is observed after sintering the sample in N2 at 260-degrees-C for 185 min . The tunneling from the n+ polycrystalline Si side of the structure i s also enhanced by the sharp point effect. This may have applications in electrically erasable read only memory, where a lower programing vo ltage, faster programing time, and enhanced endurance to repeated prog raming is desirable.