Embedded NVM Devices with Solid-Phase Crystallized Poly-Si Film on a Glass Substrate for System-on-Panel Applications

Abstract

Embedded nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices with solid-phase crystallized polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films and an oxide–nitride–oxynitride (ONOn) stack structure on a glass panel were fabricated and investigated for system-on-panel applications. Memory-in-pixel and memory blocks are expected to be integrated in display panels as the integration of display systems progresses. Poly-Si thin-film transistor technology and a low temperature method to deposit an ultrathin tunneling layer using plasma-assisted oxynitridation were used to fabricate embedded poly-Si NVM devices on glass panels. A memory window from was obtained at a low operating voltage with an erasing voltage of and a programming voltage of . Moreover, an extrapolation of the performance of the fabricated poly-Si NVM device suggests that it retains a threshold voltage window of more than 80% between the programming and erasing states up to . The results demonstrate that the proposed devices with poly-Si layers using solid-phase crystallization and ONOn stack structures have suitable switching and retention characteristics for data storage applicable to real flat-panel display applications.