Nonvolatile Memory Effects of ZnO Nanoparticles Embedded in an Amorphous Carbon Layer

Abstract

Nonvolatile memory devices utilizing ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in an amorphous carbon (a-C) dielectric layer were investigated by capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. C–V curves for the Al/ZnO NPs embedded in an amorphous carbon layer/SiO2/p-Si capacitor at 298 K showed a clockwise hysteresis with flat band voltage shift due to charge trapping in the ZnO NPs. Capacitance–time measurements showed that the devices exhibited excellent memory retention ability under ambient conditions. Operating mechanism for the memory devices was proposed based on the C–V results.