Improving Memory Characteristics of Hydrogenated Nanocrystalline Silicon Germanium Nonvolatile Memory Devices by Controlling Germanium Contents.

Abstract

Nonvolatile memory (NVM) with silicon dioxide/silicon nitride/silicon oxynitride (ONO(n)) charge trap structure is a promising flash memory technology duo that will fulfill process compatibility for system-on-panel displays, down-scaling cell size and low operation voltage. In this research, charge trap flash devices were fabricated with ONO(n) stack gate insulators and an active layer using hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon germanium (nc-SiGe:H) films at a low temperature. In this study, the effect of the interface trap density on the performance of devices, including memory window and retention, was investigated. The electrical characteristics of NVM devices were studied controlling Ge content from 0% to 28% in the nc-SiGe:H channel layer. The optimal Ge content in the channel layer was found to be around 16%. For nc-SiGe:H NVM with 16% Ge content, the memory window was 3.13 V and the retention data exceeded 77% after 10 years under the programming condition of 15 V for 1 msec. This showed that the memory window increased by 42% and the retention increased by 12% compared to the nc-Si:H NVM that does not contain Ge. However, when the Ge content was more than 16%, the memory window and retention property decreased. Finally, this research showed that the Ge content has an effect on the interface trap density and this enabled us to determine the optimal Ge content.