Rapid thermal oxygen annealing formation of nickel silicide nanocrystals for nonvolatile memory

Abstract

Discrete NiSi nanocrystals were synthesized by rapid thermal oxygen annealing of very thin Si/Ni/Si films on a SiO2 tunneling layer. They were used to fabricate metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitor memory. Electrical properties of the memory device such as programming, erasing and retention were characterized and good performance was achieved.