Synthesis and characterization of aerosol silicon nanocrystal nonvolatile floating-gate memory devices

This letter describes the fabrication and structural and electrical charact erization of an aerosol-nanocrystal-based floating-gate field-effect-transi stor nonvolatile memory. Aerosol nanocrystal nonvolatile memory devices dem onstrate program/erase characteristics comparable to conventional stacked-g ate nonvolatile memory devices. Aerosol nanocrystal devices with 0.2 mum ch annel lengths exhibit large threshold voltage shifts (>3 V), submicrosecond program times, millisecond erase times, excellent endurance (> 10(5) progr am/erase cycles), and long-term nonvolatility (> 10(6) s) despite thin tunn el oxides (55-60 A). In addition, a simple aerosol fabrication and depositi on process makes the aerosol nanocrystal memory device an attractive candid ate for low-cost nonvolatile memory applications. (C) 2001 American Institu te of Physics.