WO2011036214A1 - Dispositif de mémoire et procédé de fabrication du dispositif de mémoire - Google Patents

Dispositif de mémoire et procédé de fabrication du dispositif de mémoire Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2011036214A1
WO2011036214A1 PCT/EP2010/064060 EP2010064060W WO2011036214A1 WO 2011036214 A1 WO2011036214 A1 WO 2011036214A1 EP 2010064060 W EP2010064060 W EP 2010064060W WO 2011036214 A1 WO2011036214 A1 WO 2011036214A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
channel
layer
semiconductor material
memory device
floating gate
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2010/064060
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Xiaohui Tang
Jean-Pierre Raskin
Original Assignee
Université Catholique de Louvain
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GBGB0916776.8A external-priority patent/GB0916776D0/en
Priority claimed from GBGB0921013.9A external-priority patent/GB0921013D0/en
Application filed by Université Catholique de Louvain filed Critical Université Catholique de Louvain
Publication of WO2011036214A1 publication Critical patent/WO2011036214A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/66Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/68Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable by only the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
    • H01L29/76Unipolar devices, e.g. field effect transistors
    • H01L29/772Field effect transistors
    • H01L29/78Field effect transistors with field effect produced by an insulated gate
    • H01L29/788Field effect transistors with field effect produced by an insulated gate with floating gate
    • H01L29/7887Programmable transistors with more than two possible different levels of programmation
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B82NANOTECHNOLOGY
    • B82YSPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
    • B82Y10/00Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
    • GPHYSICS
    • G11INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11CSTATIC STORES
    • G11C11/00Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
    • G11C11/56Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using storage elements with more than two stable states represented by steps, e.g. of voltage, current, phase, frequency
    • G11C11/5621Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using storage elements with more than two stable states represented by steps, e.g. of voltage, current, phase, frequency using charge storage in a floating gate
    • GPHYSICS
    • G11INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11CSTATIC STORES
    • G11C16/00Erasable programmable read-only memories
    • G11C16/02Erasable programmable read-only memories electrically programmable
    • G11C16/04Erasable programmable read-only memories electrically programmable using variable threshold transistors, e.g. FAMOS
    • G11C16/0408Erasable programmable read-only memories electrically programmable using variable threshold transistors, e.g. FAMOS comprising cells containing floating gate transistors
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/40Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/401Multistep manufacturing processes
    • H01L29/4011Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes
    • H01L29/40114Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes the electrodes comprising a conductor-insulator-conductor-insulator-semiconductor structure
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/40Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/41Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape, relative sizes or dispositions
    • H01L29/423Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape, relative sizes or dispositions not carrying the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
    • H01L29/42312Gate electrodes for field effect devices
    • H01L29/42316Gate electrodes for field effect devices for field-effect transistors
    • H01L29/4232Gate electrodes for field effect devices for field-effect transistors with insulated gate
    • H01L29/42324Gate electrodes for transistors with a floating gate
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/40Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/41Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape, relative sizes or dispositions
    • H01L29/423Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape, relative sizes or dispositions not carrying the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
    • H01L29/42312Gate electrodes for field effect devices
    • H01L29/42316Gate electrodes for field effect devices for field-effect transistors
    • H01L29/4232Gate electrodes for field effect devices for field-effect transistors with insulated gate
    • H01L29/42324Gate electrodes for transistors with a floating gate
    • H01L29/42332Gate electrodes for transistors with a floating gate with the floating gate formed by two or more non connected parts, e.g. multi-particles flating gate
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/66Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/66007Multistep manufacturing processes
    • H01L29/66075Multistep manufacturing processes of devices having semiconductor bodies comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials
    • H01L29/66227Multistep manufacturing processes of devices having semiconductor bodies comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials the devices being controllable only by the electric current supplied or the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched, e.g. three-terminal devices
    • H01L29/66409Unipolar field-effect transistors
    • H01L29/66477Unipolar field-effect transistors with an insulated gate, i.e. MISFET
    • H01L29/66825Unipolar field-effect transistors with an insulated gate, i.e. MISFET with a floating gate
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/66Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/68Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable by only the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
    • H01L29/76Unipolar devices, e.g. field effect transistors
    • H01L29/772Field effect transistors
    • H01L29/78Field effect transistors with field effect produced by an insulated gate
    • H01L29/788Field effect transistors with field effect produced by an insulated gate with floating gate
    • H01L29/7881Programmable transistors with only two possible levels of programmation
    • H01L29/7883Programmable transistors with only two possible levels of programmation charging by tunnelling of carriers, e.g. Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling
    • GPHYSICS
    • G11INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11CSTATIC STORES
    • G11C2216/00Indexing scheme relating to G11C16/00 and subgroups, for features not directly covered by these groups
    • G11C2216/02Structural aspects of erasable programmable read-only memories
    • G11C2216/06Floating gate cells in which the floating gate consists of multiple isolated silicon islands, e.g. nanocrystals

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor memory device provided with a source and a drain electrode between which a channel extends, one or more self-aligned floating gates overlying said channel.
  • the invention further relates to a semiconductor memory device thus obtained, applications thereof and methods of operating said device.
  • Flash memory arrays are widely used for storage of information. Particularly, flash memory arrays may be employed for th212is purpose.
  • Two transistor configurations in a memory cell with an access transistor and a memory device, or memory transistor allow fast random access and low power program and erase by tunneling.
  • the access transistor typically a MOSFET transistor, which may act as a switch, may help in the selection and/or inhibition of the memory transistor with an array.
  • the use of an access transistor may allow the memory to be fully programmed and erased by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.
  • a memory transistor typically comprises a source and a drain electrode between which a channel extends.
  • a floating gate overlies the channel, and a control gate again overlies the floating gate.
  • nanowire memory devices may denote a wire-like structure of dimensions in the order of magnitude of several, such as 5 nm, to several hundreds of nanometers, such as 500 nm (and may also cover larger or smaller dimensions).
  • the width of the nanowire may be 10 nm or less.
  • the length of the nanowire may well be larger than its width, the terms width and length being used herein as two mutually perpendicular directions.
  • Typical nanowires exhibit aspect ratios (the ratio between width and length) of more than one, particularly more than two, more particularly more than 5 or up to 1000 or more.
  • nanowires are known including semiconductor nanowires (for instance made of silicon, germanium, InP, GaN etc), metallic nanowires and carbon nanotubes. Particularly though not exclusively the semiconductor nanowires are suitable for use as a channel in a memory transistor.
  • Single electron memories are an ultimate device for low power consumption, fast access speed and high integration density.
  • a nanoscale floating gate is charged/discharged by a few (ideally one) electrons based on energy quantization and Coulomb blockade effect.
  • Two main approaches, multiple-dot and single-dot devices, have been proposed to fabricate these memories since Nakazato reported the first single electron memory in Electron. Lett., vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 384-385, 1993.
  • US Patents Nos. 5,714,766 and 5,801,401 relate to the fabrication of the multiple- dot memory devices.
  • An enormous number of nanocrystals is randomly deposited on an existing MOSFET channel in this method.
  • the nanocrystals function as the floating gates of the memory device to store individual electrons.
  • the enormous number of nanocrystals implies that this device is intrinsically not single electron memory device, even if each nanocrystal stores only one electron.
  • This device presents the advantage of being more immune to spurious discharging as electrons are distributed among isolated nanocrystals.
  • the randomness of nanocrystal deposition induces fluctuations in the threshold voltage shift due to the difficulty in maintaining the size of nanocrystals, which are used as the floating gates, to be uniform.
  • Single-dot memory devices are typically composed of a narrow MOSFET channel with a single nanoscale floating gate embedded in the gate dielectric. Guo in Science, vol. 275, no. 5300, pp. 649-651, Jan 1997 and Fujitsu in U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,380 introduced a Si single electron memory operating at room temperature. The operation of this device is based on the effect of charging with one single electron. This is achieved by making the width of a channel equal to or smaller than the Debye screen length. A very high resolution lithography tool is required to define this floating gate and its precise positioning above the channel. This difficulty of integration and complicated fabrication process is a major disadvantage.
  • a nanowire memory transistor is known from WO2008/129478.
  • This known nanowire transistor teaches the provision of the nanowire into a trench within a substrate. This leads to a three-dimensional geometry of the memory cell, that would have the advantage that the channel current may flow vertically and that there is no need to scale down the length of the transistor.
  • the nanowires may be grown within trenches surrounded by silicon dioxide which may provide isolation between the bit lines in an array configuration. In order to provide a contact to the top side, and to fill up the trench, the nanowire may be covered by polysilicon or the like. The bottom side of the nanowire would be coupled to the substrate buried in the trench. It is not clear from its disclosure whether this is a single-dot memory device or a multiple-dot memory device.
  • this nanowire memory transistor is not so simple.
  • the bottom of the trench should be free of an oxide.
  • an oxide is typically formed along the trench.
  • This known memory transistor is made on an SOI substrate. Arsenic is implanted in the top silicon film of the SOI substrate. The top silicon film is thereafter protected against oxidation with a protection layer, particularly of silicon nitride.
  • This substrate structure is then patterned according to a predefined pattern. The pattern includes a source and a drain electrode and a channel region in between thereof. Within the pattern, the channel region has a smaller width than the source and the drain electrodes. Within the channel region a floating gate region is present between a first and second path region. The path regions have an even smaller width than the floating gate region.
  • the top silicon is nearly completely oxidized into silicon oxide in the path regions - a channel remains.
  • a floating gate remains which is separated from the channel with an intermediate oxide.
  • the larger width of the source and drain regions results therein that these will not be oxidized, except for a minor shell at the sidewall surface.
  • the nanoscale floating gate is self-aligned with the nanowire channel and the floating gate and the tunnel oxide is formed in one process step. It is a disadvantage of this known nanowire memory device that scattering effects have been observed in operation of the transistor. This is deemed to be due to the high concentration of arsenic needed to achieve the split of the channel and the floating gate.
  • a method of manufacturing a semiconductor memory device provided with a source and a drain electrode between which a channel extends, one, two or more floating gates overlying said channel, and a control gate, which method comprises the steps of
  • a substrate with an insulating layer and an alternating layer stack of a first and a second semiconductor material, wherein the second semiconductor material oxidizes selectively with respect to the first semiconductor material, or reverse.
  • a semiconductor memory device provided with:
  • a substrate with an insulating layer preferably a buried substrate such as a SOI with a buried oxide, and an alternating layer stack of a first and a second semiconductor material, wherein the second semiconductor material oxidizes selectively with respect to the first semiconductor material,
  • a source and a drain electrode defined in the alternating layer stack, between which electrodes a channel extends in a first layer of the first material of the alternating layer stack ,
  • first floating gate that overlies said channel and is defined in a second layer of the first material of the alternating layer stack, an intermediate layer of the second semiconductor material between said first and second layer of the first semiconductor material being oxidized between said channel and said first floating gate, or wherein the first floating gate is defined in a second layer of the first material of the alternating layer stack, and
  • an array of memory devices is provided.
  • the array of memory devices further comprises word lines coupled to the control gates and bit lines coupled to the drain electrodes.
  • storage medium is provided.
  • the storage medium comprises a memory device according to the invention and/or an array according to the invention, wherein the storage medium preferably has a capacity of 1 Tb or more.
  • an integrated circuit is provided.
  • Integrated Circuit comprises a storage medium according to the invention and/or a memory device according to the invention and/or an array according to the invention.
  • a memory device is provided.
  • the memory device such as a non-volatile memory device, according to the invention is comprised in a MOSFET, EEPROM, EPROM, DRAM, SRAM, or speed flash memory.
  • a method of operating memory devices is provided.
  • a memory device obtainable by the present method s is provided.
  • the first and second semiconductor material can be chosen such that they can be etched and oxidized selectively, i.e. the second material is etched and oxidized faster than the first material, or vice versa.
  • a split between floating gate and channel can be reliably made by provision of a layer of the second semiconductor material in between of layers of for example the first semiconductor material.
  • the thickness of a tunnel oxide present between the channel and the floating gate can be specified by choosing the thickness of the said intermediate layer of the second semiconductor material.
  • a second floating gate is present, which in an example is defined in a third layer of the first material of the alternating layer stack, an intermediate layer of the second semiconductor material between said second and third layer of the first semiconductor material being oxidized between said first and second floating gate.
  • the resulting memory device with a double floating gate on top of each other.
  • This provides multiple level storage function or long retention time.
  • the storage function can be quantized, i.e. have a quantized threshold voltage shift.
  • the lateral extension of the floating gate is thereto less than 10 nm to guarantee the presence of Coulomb blockade effect at room temperature.
  • control gate may be located adjacent to the floating gate.
  • control gate constitutes a structure that is present adjacent to the floating gate and the channel.
  • Such a structure will also be referred to as a side control gate.
  • the side control gate comprises a first and a second portion present on opposing sides of the channel and the floating gates. The first and second portion are suitably coupled with an interconnect overlying the floating gates.
  • the side control gate is embodied in a layer stack that comprises the same layers as the source and the drain. In this manner, it may be manufactured simultaneously with the source and drain, as part of the predefined pattern. Most suitably, the layer stack of the side control gate is silicidized.
  • the first semiconductor material is silicon and the second semiconductor material is SiGe (silicon-germanium) alloy or Germanium, or vice versa.
  • the germanium content of the SiGe is less than 50%.
  • dopants so as to further optimize the operation of the transistor. For instance, an implantation may be carried out into the source and drain regions to reduce the contact resistance after the provision of the channel and the one or more floating gates.
  • the upper layer of the alternating layer stack can be covered with a silicon nitride protection layer. This protection layer protects the top side during patterning, inhibits oxidation from the top side during oxidation and is resistant to high temperatures resulting from any subsequent implantation, diffusion and/or other high temperature steps.
  • a method of programming and/or erasing of a memory device is provided.
  • charge is inserted or removed from the floating gates individually by variation of an applied voltage on the control gate.
  • the operation of the double floating gate memory transistor is the following: On writing, a first electron is injected into the first (bottom) floating gate by applying a positive voltage to the control gate. One electron injection is due to the presence of Coulomb blockade effect. When the writing voltage is increased, the first electron stored in the bottom floating gate is pushed into the second (top) floating gate. Simultaneously, a second electron is injected into the first floating gate. Erasing of both floating gates may be carried out simultaneously by application of a higher negative voltage to the control gate. Alternatively, one may stepwise erase the floating gates by application of a relatively low negative voltage, so as to erase the second floating gate. Thereafter, if desired, the first floating gate may be erased by application of a higher negative voltage. On the other hand, single-electron memories with double nano floating- gates show a long data retention time due to the fact that quantum effects existing in additional floating-gate suppress charge leakage.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view illustrating a first embodiment of the memory device of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic layout for the first embodiment of the memory device
  • FIG. 2a-2d show cross-sections of a fully self-aligned double floating gate memory device according to the invention
  • FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view showing the result of a first step of the method of the invention, in a first embodiment
  • FIG. 4A through 4C are cross-sectional views of the floating gate region, the path regions and the source and drain regions obtained after a second step of the method of the invention, in a first embodiment
  • FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the floating gate region in the memory device of the invention, after completion of a third step of the method of the invention;
  • FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the path region after completion of the third step of the method of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the source/drain regions after completion of the third step of the method of the invention.
  • FIG. 8a and 8b are a diagrammatic top view and a SEM image of the device of the invention.
  • FIG. 9 is a graph showing drain current as a function of control gate voltage in the device of the invention for three different states.
  • FIG.10 is a schematic bird eye's view of the first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 11 shows hysteretic behavior of a self-aligned memory device according to the invention.
  • FIG. 12 shows a drain current versus time characteristics of a self-aligned memory device according to the invention.
  • FIG 13 shows time dependence of a memory window width of a self-aligned memory device according to the invention.
  • the present invention is to build an ultra-highly integrated memory by overcoming drawbacks of a previous memory device. Accordingly, the previous memory with a floating gate is fabricated based on arsenic-assisted etching and oxidation effects, which only can provide one floating gate. According to the invention, a multiple-level storage function is provided by vertically arranging two floating gates over a channel in order to overcome a limit in ultrahigh integration. Each of the two floating gates may be filled individually. This is performed through changing the level of the control gate voltage in order to inject one electron into each floating gate. At the same time, the additional FG in tunnel oxide results electrons in the MOSFET channel passing through double tunnel junctions.
  • Quantum effects induce splitting of an energy band of both FGs into a number of energy levels. It is believed that the band- offset between both FGs prevents an electron in the upper FG from returning to the channel, thereby increasing retention time.
  • the non- volatile memory consumes an extremely small amount of power.
  • Programming by means of tunneling a single electron into a floating gate does not cost much power.
  • the well-controlled thickness of tunnel oxides and energy quantization allows optimization of the programming voltage to a minimum.
  • a further advantage of the reduced dimensions of the memory, .e.g. to below 10 nm floating gate size, which guarantees the presence of Coulomb blockade effect at room temperature, is the resulting increase in access speed.
  • the presence of the lower floating gate results in a long retention time for a single-level application of single electron memory device with both floating gates.
  • FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration of a memory device with a first and a second floating gate according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 10 shows a bird's eye perspective of this embodiment.
  • This memory device is a multiple level single electron device, as it provides storage of more than one single electron.
  • the multiple-level single electron with two floating gates according to the present invention fundamentally has a structure in which a Si nanowire channel 2 is defined on an insulating layer 1.
  • a substrate with a buried insulating layer such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate with a buried oxide.
  • SOI silicon-on-insulator
  • the same top silicon film also is present as part of the source 3 and the drain 4 electrodes.
  • These source and drain electrode 3, 4 are defined in the alternating layer stack.
  • the alternating layer stack is in one example a hetero structure of Si/SiGe/Si/SiGe, etc.. Due to the vertical extension, as compared to the channel that is present in the first Si layer only, the source and drain electrodes 3,4 are elevated.
  • a tunnel oxide is present on top of the channel 2.
  • the tunnel oxide is constituted by an insulating layer 5 of (SiGe)0 2 . Thereon, the first and the second floating gates 6 and 7 are present.
  • the second floating gate 7 overlies the first floating gate 6 and is separated therefrom through an insulating layer 8 of (SiGe)0 2 acting as a second tunnel oxide arranged.
  • An insulating layer 9 overlies the second floating gate 7 to act as the control gate oxide.
  • a control gate 10 is formed on the control gate oxide 9.
  • the channel 1 in an example has a substantially triangular structure, which is characterized by a tip on its top side. It is believed that the tip of the channel 1 functions as a field emission tip and facilitates the emission of charge carriers (holes or electrons) into and from the floating gates 6,7, which is considered advantageous.
  • the manufacturing in accordance with the method comprises three major steps.
  • the results of each step are outlined in Fig. 3, Fig. 4A-Fig 4C and Fig. 5-7, respectively, in cross-sectional diagrammatical drawings.
  • Equal reference numerals in different figures refer to the same or like parts.
  • Fig. 3 shows a substrate with the alternating layer stack.
  • a silicon top layer 2 is provided on top of a buried oxide layer 1 .
  • the buried oxide layer 1 has a thickness in the order of 50-400 nm in this example, such as 100 nm.
  • the further layers of the alternating layer stack include a first layer 13 of the second semiconductor material SiGe, a second layer 14 of the first semiconductor material Si, a second layer 15 of the second semiconductor material SiGe and a third layer 16 of the first semiconductor material Si.
  • the alternating layer stack is covered with a protection layer 17, which is silicon nitride in this example.
  • the layer thicknesses of the first and second layer of second semiconductor material are preferably in the range between 5 and 20 nm.
  • the layer thicknesses of the third and second layer of first semiconductor material are preferably in the range of 10-20 nm. It is preferred that the first layer thickness of the first semiconductor material is higher than that of the other layers.
  • the exact layer thicknesses are subject to a design optimization dependent on the lateral geometries and the desired tunnel oxide thicknesses.
  • the SiGe suitably comprises less than 50% of Ge, based on its atomic content.
  • a preferred composition is Sio .7 Geo .3 in this example.
  • the first silicon layer may be slightly doped, for instance with p-type dopant to create a channel of the memory device.
  • the layers of the alternating layer stack may be formed by epitaxial growth or by CVD deposition.
  • Fig. 4A-4C show schematically the result of the patterning step of the alternating layer stack according to a predefined pattern.
  • a suitable predefined pattern is shown in Fig. 2.
  • the pattern defines a source and a drain region 21, 22, as well as a channel region comprising a floating gate region 23 and adjacent path regions 24, 25.
  • the width of the source and drain regions 21, 22 is larger than that of the channel region.
  • the diameter of the floating gate region 23 is larger than that of the path regions 24, 25.
  • the pattern shown in Fig. 2 is evidently merely one example. Instead of the circle, a square or rhombus could be defined. Instead of one channel, two or more channels could be defined between the source and the drain region 21, 22.
  • a typical diameter of the floating gate region is between 50 and 100 nm, for instance 75nm
  • a typical width of the path regions is between 20 and 80 nm, for instance 50 nm
  • a typical width of the source and drain regions is between 70 and 400 nm, for instance 100 nm.
  • Fig. 4 A shows schematically the result of patterning for the floating gate region 23.
  • Fig. 4B shows schematically the result of patterning for the path regions 24, 25.
  • Fig. 4C shows schematically the result of patterning for the source and drain regions 21, 22.
  • the pattern is defined lithographically, for instance with e-beam lithography, optical lithography and imprint.
  • the pattern is then transferred to the alternating layer stack by means of reactive ion etching or wet etching. Due to the material differences, a difference in etching between the first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor material occurs.
  • the SiGe is preferably etched, so as to result in under etching of the silicon. This under etching already removes a major portion of the SiGe in the path region, whereas it removes merely an edge of the source and drain regions.
  • Fig. 5-7 shows schematically the result of oxidation of the patterned structures as shown in Fig. 4A-C.
  • the oxidation typically leads to lateral expansion of the regions.
  • the oxidation in the floating gate region 23 is effective to fully oxidize the SiGe, as well as a shell of the Si.
  • the SiGe is oxidized into (SiGe)0 2 .
  • the one or more floating gates are formed.
  • the floating gates have a diameter of less than 10 nm. This results in the advantageous electron by electron loading and erasure, as will be explained hereinafter, when discussing the operation of the device.
  • Fig. 5 shows schematically the result of oxidation of the patterned structures as shown in Fig. 4A-C.
  • the oxidation typically leads to lateral expansion of the regions.
  • the oxidation in the floating gate region 23 is effective to fully oxidize the SiGe, as well as a shell of the Si.
  • the SiGe is oxidized into (Si
  • the oxidation in the path regions 24, 25 is effective to oxidize both the complete alternating layer stack, except for the first layer.
  • the first (bottom) layer In order that the first (bottom) layer is not completely oxidized, it has preferably a larger thickness than the other layers.
  • those layers already due to the under etching of the upper layers, those layers have a relatively large surface area in comparison to the bottom layer. Thus, they have a larger tendency of being oxidized, that is being selectively oxidized.
  • the source and the drain regions 21, 22 are provided with an oxide shell, while being otherwise unchanged.
  • protection layer of S1 3 N 4 is removed.
  • a layer of polysilicon or metal material is deposited on the top surface of the structure.
  • the layer is thereafter patterned to define a control gate.
  • the source/drain regions and the control gate may be highly-doped or silicided to obtain a low contact resistance.
  • the width of the control gate is larger that of the floating gate region, such as from 10% to 100% larger, but the control gate does not cover the source/drain region. It is preferred that the source and drain electrodes and the control gate are silicided in a single step. Preferably, a layer of at least one material from the group of Pt, Er, Ti and Yb is deposed on the surface of the heterostructure. Then, the silicidation step is processed in a rapid thermal annealing system to change the heterostructures of the control gate and the source/drain region into silicide for a low contact resistance.
  • the floating gate region and the path region may be protected against silicidation with a protection layer, for instance the Si0 2 formed during the oxidation step.
  • the silicidation on the control gate may be limited to contact areas adjacent to the floating gate region, so as to prevent contamination.
  • Fig. 8 shows a diagrammatical top view of a further embodiment of the device of the invention.
  • the control gate 26 is provided as a side control gate which extends adjacent to the floating gate 23 and suitably also the channel 24,25.
  • this side control gate 26 comprises the same materials and structure as the source and drain electrodes 21, 22, as shown in Fig. 7. It can then be patterned simultaneously with the source electrode 21, the drain electrode 22 and the floating gate 23.
  • the length of the side control gate 26 is larger enough to avoid the formation of the tunnel oxide at the second semiconductor material.
  • the cross-section of the side control gate 26 is the same as the Fig. 7 in which the oxide provides a shell, while being other wise unchanged.
  • the side control gate 26 is also silicidized and thus changed into the metallic material, with the source electrode 21 and drain electrode 22.
  • the floating gate is unchanged due to the protection of the oxide layer from oxidation process. This further simplifies the fabrication process.
  • the access transistor may be fabricated in the same manner as the memory transistor, i.e. as a nanowire transistor without floating gates. Specifically, one could define the source electrode, drain electrode, wherein a channel extends between the said electrodes. The width of the channel is the same as that of the path in the memory device. As shown in Fig. 6, the oxidation in the channel of the access transistor is effective to oxidize the complete alternating layer stack, except for the first layer. Alternatively, one could define an access transistor in a more conventional design. One option thereto is to provide a patterned oxide layer on the first layer of silicon.
  • this additional oxide layer When providing the pattern by etching, this additional oxide layer would act as an etch stop and the first layer of silicon is then maintained. It may be oxidized in the oxidation step and the gate may be applied together with the control gate. Another option is to define such access transistor in a top layer of the alternating layer stack.
  • the alternating layer stack used in the method of the invention has a same structure as a quantum well. In a further embodiment, therefore, other devices based on the quantum well may be combined in one circuit with the present memory transistor.
  • the alternating layer stack used in the method of the invention has etching and oxidation selectivity. In a further embodiment, therefore, other devices, such as 3D MEMS, multi-channel MOSFETs and variable sensors may be combined in one circuit with the present memory transistor.
  • the alternating layer stack used in the method of the invention provides a well-controlled capability for both floating gate sizes.
  • other devices such as qubit quantum computers, are provided with an asymmetric floating gate.
  • a first and a second floating gate are self-aligned with the channel and a first and a second tunnel oxide are formed in one process step. This is beneficial so as to ensure efficient tunneling of charge carriers into the floating gates.
  • the condition to observe Coulomb blockade effect at room temperature is ⁇ ⁇ q 2, /(3 ⁇ 4
  • the charging energy q 2, /C ⁇ should exceed the thermal energy K B T at least by a factor of three.
  • C ⁇ is the total capacitance of the floating gate.
  • a prior art single electron memory device as published in Solid State Electronics 44(2000), 2259-2264 is based on the arsenic-assisted etching and oxidation effects.
  • the prior art memory has problems in that the tunnel oxide is thicker than desired and fixed by the arsenic doping concentration and energy.
  • a thick tunnel oxide corresponds to the range where Fowler Nordheim tunneling occurs and provides a long retention time. However, it needs a high operation voltage to inject electrons from the channel into the floating gate.
  • a very thin tunnel oxide corresponds to the range where direct tunneling occurs and reduces the operation voltage, but the retention time becomes short due to leakage current.
  • a suitable trade-off is therefore provided in an embodiment with an intermediate tunnel oxide thickness.
  • a suitable range is for instance from 7 nm to 20 nm. Accordingly, a method of the present invention of multiple-level single electron memory with one or more floating gates can well define the tunnel oxide thickness by controlling the thickness of the SiGe layers.
  • FIG. 9 shows a graph of the drain current I DS as a function of the voltage V GS applied to the control gate.
  • State 0 refers to the case of the multiple-level single electron memory according to the invention, to which no data is written;
  • State 1 refers to the case of the multiple-level single electron memory according to the invention, to which data is written using the bottom floating gate.
  • State 2 refers to the case of the multiple-level single electron memory according to the invention, to which data is written using the top and bottom floating gates.
  • a multiple-level writing method comprises following steps:
  • the bottom floating gate of a typical memory cell as shown in FIG. 1 is charged with one electron.
  • a source-drain voltage V DS and a positive control gate voltage V GS are applied, with values based on the Fowler-Nordheim tunnel model.
  • a positive threshold voltage shift is observed in the drain current of an n-type MOSFET and state 1 is obtained as shown in FIG. 9;
  • the top floating gate of the memory device as shown in FIG. 1 is charged by remaining the source-drain voltage V DS and applying a positive control gate voltage higher than V GS. , a larger positive threshold voltage is observed as shown in FIG. 9 and state 2 is obtained.
  • An erasing method is performed, starting from State 2 as shown in Fig.9, by applying a negative gate voltage with an absolute value of V GS to the control gate. Therewith, the electron stored in the bottom floating gate is removed and put back into the channel. Simultaneously, , the electron stored in the top floating gate is returned back to the bottom floating gate. Erasing may be alternatively performed, starting from State 2 as shown in Fig. 9, by applying a negative gate voltage larger than the absolute value of V GS to the control gate. Then two electrons stored in the both floating gates can go into the channel. Performing reading is carried out in the following manner: the top floating gate is charged with a greater positive control gate voltage than that V GS required by the bottom floating gate.
  • the memory according to the present invention is operated by one electron and so can drastically shorten the writing and erasing time, compared to existing memory cells, thus a fast operation on the order of ns or faster is possible. Moreover, the memory according to the present invention has no degradation of the MOSFET performance since the channel of the MOSFET can be intrinsic or lowly-doped. Therefore, the present invention is applicable to ultra-high integration, low power consumption and fast access speed flash memories, EEPROMs, EPROMs, DRAMs, SRAMs and others.
  • the memory according to the present invention is a non-volatile memory which consumes an extremely small amount of power.
  • This is the result of an optimized definition of the tunnel oxide by controlling the thickness of the SiGe layer.
  • the storage in the floating gate may be optimized to store one electron based on the energy quantization and Coulomb blockade effect.
  • the degraded performance of the prior art memory device caused by arsenic-assisted etching and oxidation effects, is overcome by using a hetero structure, i.e. an alternating layer stack. Therewith, high integration, high performance, low power consumption and fast access speed can be achieved. For instance, a memory capacity of 1 Tb or greater may be obtained with the embodiment having a double floating gate.
  • Example 1 is an example for a multi-level memory application.
  • the device according to the present invention also can be used for single-level application, to obtain a long retention time, which is described in example 2.
  • Example 1
  • a commercially available P-type SOI wafer having a resistivity of 15-25 fl cm is used as the starting substrate according to this embodiment of the present invention.
  • Silicon overlay is about 50 nm.
  • a layer of Sio .7 Geo .3 with a thickness of 15 nm and a layer of Si with a thickness of 20 nm are grown by an epitaxial method, so that the heterostructure is composed of a Si/Sio .7 Ge 0 .3/Si stack (20/15/50 nm) on a 145-nm thick buried oxide.
  • a thin layer of S1 3 N 4 with a thickness of 20 nm is deposited on the surface of the heterostructure in order to protect the surface of the top Si from oxidation.
  • the layout is composed of a central circle connected to wider source/drain regions by two narrow paths.
  • the diameter of the floating gate region is chosen in such a way that after wet oxidation at 750°C for 1 hour, the Sio .7 Geo.3 layer is totally oxidized due to a fast oxidation rate and a tunnel oxide (SiGe)0 2 is formed.
  • the diameter of the floating gate region is for instance in the order of 50-100 nm, for instance 75 nm.
  • the tunnel oxide separates the channel from the floating gate.
  • the channel has a triangular shape as a result of the patterning and oxidation steps.
  • the diameter of the floating gate obtained from this example is less than 10 nm compatible with the Coulomb blockade effect at room temperature so that the electron can be injected one by one.
  • the tunnel oxide obtained from this example is in the range from 7 nm to 10 nm considered in Fowler- Nordheim tunnel model which not only reduces the control gate voltage to inject one electron from the channel into the floating gate, but also reduces the current leakage from the direct tunnel effect.
  • NC FG floating gate
  • a double NC FG device is provided. Its working principle can be explained from Fig.10, in which both FGs are made of Si, wherein a top Si FG is charged by one or a few electrons from in this case a MOSFET channel through double tunnel junctions separated by a lower Si FG.
  • the size of the lower FG is preferably below 10 nm, allowing quantum effects (quantum confinement and Coulomb blockade) to induce splitting of an energy band into a number of energy levels at room temperature.
  • the band-offset between the upper and lower FGs prevents a charge in the upper FG from returning to the channel, thereby resulting in a longer retention time.
  • the double FGs are analogous to an 'artificial dipole', which is embedded in the gate oxide between the control gate and the MOSFET channel.
  • An electric field surrounding the 'artificial dipole' is weaker than that surrounding a single FG in a single-electron memory device. Therefore, a charge can be stored in an upper FG for a relative long time.
  • both FGs are composed of the same material, such as Si or polysilicon. This requires the size of the lower FG to be smaller than 10 nm for compatibility with the quantum effects at room temperature.
  • the second example relates to use of different materials, namely Si and Ge as the upper and lower FGs, respectively.
  • Si Compared with Si, Ge has a narrower band gap and a smaller effective mass. Therefore, the band-offset between both FGs is created automatically, which will amongst others suppress the charge leak.
  • the size of the lower FG is preferably not scaled below 10 nm.
  • a nonvolatile Si quantum memory fabricated by depositing Si nanocrystals on the top of an amorphous Si layer is reported.
  • Self-aligned double NC FGs are obtained after oxidization.
  • this device has multiple-FGs, in which lateral interference between FGs due to Coulomb interaction is one of the largest obstacles for this device application.
  • alternative methods wherein a double FGs structure is composed of nanocrystals or amorphous Si are currently in development and under investigation, the randomness of the deposition therein does not assure the desired sizes and defined positions.
  • the present invention is therefore the first demonstration of a fully self-aligned double FG single electron memory device.
  • the fully self-aligned single-electron memory devices with only one Si NC FG and one Ge NC FG have not yet been demonstrated.
  • the inventors fabricate a new double FG single-electron memory, in which the upper Si NC FG, lower Ge NC FG and nanoscale MOSFET channel are fully self-aligned.
  • the size of each FG is well defined by tuning the thickness of the Si and Sii_ x Ge x alloy layers.
  • Si0.7Ge0.3 and Si layers with a thickness of 20 nm are successively grown on a p-type silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with 50-nm-thick Si film by epitaxy, so that a heterostructure composed of a Si/Si0.7Ge0.3/Si (20/20/50 nm) stack is formed on a 145- nm-thick buried oxide.
  • SOI silicon-on-insulator
  • the epitaxial method could be replaced by low-cost film deposition techniques.
  • Further typical thicknesses vary from about 10 nm to about 50 nm for the heterostructure layers, from about 20 to about 100 nm for the Si-film, and from about 60 nm- 250 nm for the buried oxide.
  • a layer of S1 3 N 4 with a thickness of from 5-30 nm, such as 10 nm is deposed on the surface of the heterostructure as a hard mask.
  • a pattern as shown in Fig. 2a is then defined on the heterostructure, such as by electron-beam lithography. Thereafter the heterostructure is etched down to the buried oxide such as by Reactive Ion Etching.
  • the pattern formed is composed of a central circle with a diameter of from 25-200 nm, such as 75 nm, connected to wider source/drain regions (from 100- 500 nm wide, such as 200-nm-wide) by narrow paths (from 25- 200 nm wide, such as 50-nm-wide).
  • wet oxidation is carried out at elevated temperature, such as at 750 °C, during an adequate time, such as for 75 min.
  • a Si NC and a Ge NC are formed over a channel having a tip, such as triangular-like channel.
  • the channel is an important feature obtained by the present invention, providing various advantages, as mentioned.
  • Figure 2b shows a cross-sectional transmission electron micrograph of a device center after wet oxidation, in which the Ge NC is aligned not only with the top Si NC, but also with the bottom Si triangle. Formation of a control gate oxide and double tunnel oxides is considered due to point defects presented at the Si 3 N4/Si and Si/Sio. 7 Geo. 3 interfaces. These point defects provide reaction sites for the formation of Si0 2 , considered to increase the oxidation rate.
  • Si is preferentially or selectively oxidized due to the fact that Si0 2 has a larger negative Gibbs free energy than Ge0 2 .
  • Si is first oxidized to form Si0 2 .
  • Ge is thus agglomerated at the Si0 2 /Sio .7 Ge 0 . 3 interface, forming a Ge-rich shell.
  • Si nest diffuses through the Ge-rich shell to react with oxygen which has diffused through the Si0 2 layer.
  • the oxygen concentration at the oxidation front decreases with the increase of the Si0 2 thickness.
  • the decreasing oxygen concentration at the oxidation front counteracts the effect of increasing Ge concentration in the Ge-rich shell so that Ge is not oxidized and accumulates to form the Ge NC during the 75-min oxidation process.
  • the self-limiting oxidation process results in a diameter of the Ge NC being equal to a thickness of the initial Sio. 7 Ge 0.3 layer.
  • Double tunnel oxides vertically separate the circle region of the device into to top Si NC, middle Ge NC and bottom triangular nanowire, which are used as the upper FG, the lower FG and the channel of the present memory device, respectively.
  • a smart layout (see Fig. 2a) restricts both FGs to the central circle since the Si and Ge NCs are completely oxidized in narrow paths (Fig. 2c).
  • the wide source and drain regions are wide enough to avoid the formation of the tunnel oxides at the interfaces (Fig. 2d).
  • the oxidation process only provides a small influence for the wide source and drain regions.
  • both FGs are self-aligned to the channel and restricted in the center of the device, while source and drain regions are elevated.
  • the diameter of the circle in Fig. 2a is chosen in such a way that after etch and wet oxidation, the dimension of the Si NC is in an example less than 10 nm to guarantee single electron injection at room temperature.
  • the whole structure is uniformly doped by ion implantation, for instance using arsenic at energy of 140 keV and a dose of 2 x 10 cm " .
  • the doping impurities are subsequently annealed by rapid thermal annealing at 950°C for 60sec. This step leads to a junctionless transistor. More specifically, an n- type Si nanowire channel is connected by an n-type elevated source and elevated drain.
  • control gate is formed such as by electron-beam lithography, depositing a conducting layer, such as a platinum (Pt) layer, and followed by a lift-off process.
  • Pt is chosen as control gate material because it has nearly the same work-function as P+ polycrystalline silicon. Similar materials are considered as well.
  • control gate has an ⁇ configuration, which covers three edges of the device. Such is advantageous.
  • memory devices with two side control gates are provided, offering a reduced number of masks compared with a process for memory devices with a top control gate.
  • the fabrication process of the side control gate memory devices is nearly the same as that in the top control gate, except the implantation energy is changed.
  • the triangular channel has a lower height than the source and drain regions. Therefore if the doping energy is well optimized, such as the As doping energy, it is possible to selectively implant the elevated source and drain only, while the channel remains undoped.
  • the doping energy is set to 105 keV relating to its projected range being about 60 nm, which is little bit larger than the thickness sum of S1 3 N 4 , Si and Sio. 7 Ge 0 .3 layers.
  • the side gates composed of the hetero structure also are doped by this step. This simplifies the fabrication process and leads to a corresponding reduction in cost.
  • the present fabrication method shows amongst others the following advantages. (1) Both FGs and the nanowire MOSFET channel are simultaneously formed in a single process step and fully self-aligned.
  • Both FGs are made from different materials (Si and Ge) and the band-offset between both FGs is automatically created. Therefore, in an example the lower FG must not be scaled below 10 nm to present quantum effects at room temperature.
  • the smart layout restricts both FGs in the center of the device and results in elevated source and drain regions.
  • the fabrication process is simplified. Specifically, for the top control gate device, the device operation is based on a junctionless transistor without the source/drain doping, while, for the side gate device, the control gate and source/drain regions are doped at the same time.
  • each FG size and tunnel oxide thickness can be well defined in sub-nanometer-scale precision by controlling the thicknesses of the Si and Sii_ x Ge x alloy layers, respectively, and the composition of the Sii_ x Ge x alloy. This makes it possible to realize a multilevel bit memory cell with symmetric NC FGs and qubit quantum computers with asymmetric NCs.
  • a Ge FG can be charged by an optimized gate voltage.
  • a goal is to store an electron in the upper floating gate for a long time (this is an single-level memory application). If the aim is to store an electron in the Ge floating gate for multi-level memory application, there is a need to turn the control gate voltage. It is envisaged to use the configurations Si/Si and Si/Ge as double floating gates. Each configuration has it's advantage.
  • a decisive signature of single electron injection is drain current hysteretic behavior with abrupt decrease, a stepwise decrease of a drain current as a function of gate voltage, where each step corresponds to rejection of one electron from the channel to the upper FG.
  • Figure 11 demonstrates hysteretic behavior of a self-aligned double floating-gate single-electron memory at room temperature.
  • the gate voltage is swept from 0 to 8 V, four current shifts are observed. This suggests that a single electron is injected into the NC FG.
  • the diameter of the upper Si FG obtained from Fig. 2b is 7.5 nm, which diameter is compatible with the Coulomb charging energy at room temperature.
  • the charging energy (3q2/C ⁇ ) is 3 times larger than the thermal energy (kBT).
  • C ⁇ is the total capacitance of the upper FG. From Fig.
  • Figure 13 shows time dependence of a memory window width for a double FG single-electron memory. It is clear that after 104 sec, the memory window width has dropped to 0.25 V, but is not zero (0).
  • the electron tunneling probability from the upper FG to the channel is much smaller in the double FG device because electrons are considered to have to overcome multiple barriers (two oxide barriers and the band-offset between both FGs), resulting in less leaking out of electrons from the upper FG, thereby providing a long retention time.
  • the memory window (> 0.5 V) in a double FG device is wider than that ( ⁇ 0.5 V) in a single FG device for the first write/erase cycle. This is considered to relate to more electrons being stored in the lower Ge FG and the multiple barriers ensure the single electron injection from the lower Ge FG to the upper Si FG.
  • the present invention therefore provides a fully self-aligned double floating-gate single-electron memory.
  • Device fabrication is based on a Si/Sii_ x Ge x /Si heterostructure and a smart layout.
  • the device has an upper Si nanocrystal floating gate (7.5 nm) and a lower Ge nanocrystal floating gate (20 nm). Both floating gates and the nanoscale channel of the device are fully self-aligned.
  • the size of each FG can be well defined by modulating the thicknesses of the Si and Sii_ x Ge x alloy layers. This makes it possible to realize multilevel bit memory cells with symmetric NC FGs and qubit quantum computers with asymmetric NCs.

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un dispositif de mémoire à semi-conducteurs qui comprend des électrodes de source et de drain entre lesquelles s'étend un canal, une ou deux nanogrilles flottantes ou plus placées au-dessus dudit canal, et une grille de commande. Dans sa fabrication, un substrat isolant est muni d'un empilement de couches alternées d'un premier et d'un second matériaux semi-conducteurs, par exemple un empilement Si/SiGe/Si/SiGe/Si/BOX ou Si/SiGe/Si/BOX. L'empilement de couches alternées est soumis à une formation de motifs jusqu'au substrat isolant conformément à un motif prédéfini comprenant l'électrode de source, l'électrode de drain et une région de canal s'étendant entre lesdites électrodes. L'empilement de couches alternées à motifs est ensuite oxydé, de telle manière que le second matériau semi-conducteur dans la région du canal soit complètement oxydé sous certaines conditions afin de séparer le canal des grilles flottantes faites du premier matériau semi-conducteur ou que le second matériau semi-conducteur s'agglomère sous d'autres conditions afin de former l'une des grilles flottantes. Le dispositif de mémoire à semi-conducteurs comprend de préférence des première et seconde grilles flottantes l'une au-dessus de l'autre, qui sont automatiquement alignées avec ledit canal. La présente technologie permet de réaliser des cellules de mémoire à bits multiples et des ordinateurs quantiques à bits quantiques.
PCT/EP2010/064060 2009-09-23 2010-09-23 Dispositif de mémoire et procédé de fabrication du dispositif de mémoire WO2011036214A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB0916776.8A GB0916776D0 (en) 2009-09-23 2009-09-23 A method of manufacturing a memory device and a memory device thus obtained
GB0916776.8 2009-09-23
GB0921013.9 2009-11-30
GBGB0921013.9A GB0921013D0 (en) 2009-11-30 2009-11-30 A method of manufacturing a memory device and a memory device thus abtained

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2011036214A1 true WO2011036214A1 (fr) 2011-03-31

Family

ID=43063298

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2010/064060 WO2011036214A1 (fr) 2009-09-23 2010-09-23 Dispositif de mémoire et procédé de fabrication du dispositif de mémoire

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2011036214A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2021158269A1 (fr) * 2019-10-21 2021-08-12 Streamline Automation Llc Composants, systèmes et procédés d'informatique quantique topologique

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5714766A (en) 1995-09-29 1998-02-03 International Business Machines Corporation Nano-structure memory device
US5801401A (en) 1997-01-29 1998-09-01 Micron Technology, Inc. Flash memory with microcrystalline silicon carbide film floating gate
US5886380A (en) 1996-03-19 1999-03-23 Fujitsu Limited Semiconductor memory elements having quantum box floating gates
WO2008069765A1 (fr) * 2006-12-08 2008-06-12 Agency For Science, Technology And Research Structure de nanofil de silicium-germanium empilée, et procédé pour sa formation
WO2008129478A1 (fr) 2007-04-19 2008-10-30 Nxp B.V. Cellule de mémoire, réseau de mémoire et procédé de fabrication d'une cellule de mémoire

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5714766A (en) 1995-09-29 1998-02-03 International Business Machines Corporation Nano-structure memory device
US5886380A (en) 1996-03-19 1999-03-23 Fujitsu Limited Semiconductor memory elements having quantum box floating gates
US5801401A (en) 1997-01-29 1998-09-01 Micron Technology, Inc. Flash memory with microcrystalline silicon carbide film floating gate
WO2008069765A1 (fr) * 2006-12-08 2008-06-12 Agency For Science, Technology And Research Structure de nanofil de silicium-germanium empilée, et procédé pour sa formation
WO2008129478A1 (fr) 2007-04-19 2008-10-30 Nxp B.V. Cellule de mémoire, réseau de mémoire et procédé de fabrication d'une cellule de mémoire

Non-Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
ELECTRON. LETT., vol. 29, no. 4, 1993, pages 384 - 385
GUO, SCIENCE, vol. 275, no. 5300, January 1997 (1997-01-01), pages 649 - 651
SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS, vol. 44, 2000, pages 2259 - 2264
TANG X ET AL: "Self-aligned silicon-on-insulator nano flash memory device", SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS, ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS, BARKING, GB, vol. 44, no. 12, 1 December 2000 (2000-12-01), pages 2259 - 2264, XP004227144, ISSN: 0038-1101, DOI: DOI:10.1016/S0038-1101(00)00221-5 *

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2021158269A1 (fr) * 2019-10-21 2021-08-12 Streamline Automation Llc Composants, systèmes et procédés d'informatique quantique topologique
US11580437B2 (en) 2019-10-21 2023-02-14 Streamline Automation Llc Topological quantum computing components, systems, and methods
JP7440014B2 (ja) 2019-10-21 2024-02-28 ストリームライン オートメーション エルエルシー トポロジカル量子コンピューティングコンポーネント、システム、および方法

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US7012298B1 (en) Non-volatile memory device
US7259984B2 (en) Multibit metal nanocrystal memories and fabrication
KR101878006B1 (ko) 수직 메모리 디바이스 및 그것의 제조 방법
US7683438B2 (en) Self-aligned double layered silicon-metal nanocrystal memory element, method for fabricating the same, and memory having the memory element
US20110018053A1 (en) Memory cell and methods of manufacturing thereof
US20030030100A1 (en) Non-volatile memory device and method for fabricating the same
US20020000592A1 (en) Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of operation thereof
US20060237777A1 (en) Multi-bit non-volatile memory device having a dual-gate and method of manufacturing the same, and method of multi-bit cell operation
US7928503B2 (en) Memory cells
US6913975B2 (en) Non-volatile floating gate memory cell with floating gates formed in cavities, and array thereof, and method of formation
US6400610B1 (en) Memory device including isolated storage elements that utilize hole conduction and method therefor
JP5576400B2 (ja) フラッシュ・メモリ・デバイスおよびその製造方法
WO2002015278A2 (fr) Dispositif a semi-conducteurs multigrille avec courant de canal vertical et son procede de fabrication
KR20030019917A (ko) 메모리 셀, 메모리 셀 장치 및 그 제조 방법
JP2004056095A (ja) 不揮発性半導体記憶装置及びその製造方法
JP2008004915A (ja) 柱構造を有するnandフラッシュメモリアレイ及びその製造方法
KR100499151B1 (ko) 비휘발성 메모리 소자 및 그 제조 방법
KR100656346B1 (ko) 이동 전하를 이용한 비휘발성 메모리 소자의 제조 방법
US8223548B2 (en) Memory device with reduced programming voltage method of reduction of programming voltage and method of reading such memory device
US20100038702A1 (en) Nonvolatile memory device and methods of forming the same
US7157767B2 (en) Semiconductor memory element, semiconductor memory arrangement, method for fabricating a semiconductor memory element and method for operating a semiconductor memory element
CN101154593A (zh) 非挥发性半导体存储器及其制作方法
KR100849993B1 (ko) 비대칭 쇼트키 장벽을 이용한 nor형 플래시 기억 소자및 그 제조 방법
KR100890210B1 (ko) 비휘발성 메모리 소자 및 이를 제조하는 방법
WO2011036214A1 (fr) Dispositif de mémoire et procédé de fabrication du dispositif de mémoire

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 10762894

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 10762894

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1