Nickel nanoparticle deposition at room temperature for memory applications

In this work we investigate the non-volatile memory behavior of Ni nanoparticles embedded within an insulating matrix. Nickel nanoparticles are deposited at room temperature by a new high-vacuum technique over a 4 nm tunneling thermal SiO2 layer followed by the deposition of HfO2 as a control insulator. Memory windows of -> 1.5V are observed in MOS capacitors at gate pulse voltages of 8V. Charge retention for write and erase state clearly indicate long time charge storage behavior.