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

This letter describes the fabrication and structural and electrical characterization of an aerosol-nanocrystal-based floating-gate field-effect-transistor nonvolatile memory. Aerosol nanocrystal nonvolatile memory devices demonstrate program/erase characteristics comparable to conventional stacked-gate nonvolatile memory devices. Aerosol nanocrystal devices with 0.2 ?m channel lengths exhibit large threshold voltage shifts (>3?V), submicrosecond program times, millisecond erase times, excellent endurance (>105?program/erase cycles), and long-term nonvolatility (>106?s) despite thin tunnel oxides (55–60 Å). In addition, a simple aerosol fabrication and deposition process makes the aerosol nanocrystal memory device an attractive candidate for low-cost nonvolatile memory applications. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.