Novel Zn-Doped Al2O3 Charge Storage Medium for Light-Erasable In-Ga-Zn-O TFT Memory

A novel Zn-doped Al2O3 (ZAO) layer prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used as the charge storage medium in an In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film-transistor memory. The gate insulating stack of Al2O3/ZAO/Al2O3 is assembled in a single ALD step, and is found to possess a high electron storage capacity due to very deep defect levels. The memory device shows a threshold voltage shift as large as 6.38 V after a +15V/1 ms programming pulse, and quite good charge retention. Once programmed, the memory can be only light erased. The underlying mechanisms are discussed with the assistance of density functional theory calculations.