CF{sub 4} plasma treatment on nanostructure band engineered Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}-nanocrystal nonvolatile memory

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3556761· OSTI ID:21538182

Wang, Jer-Chyi; Lin, Chih-Ting ^[1]

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1. 1Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kweishan 333, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China)

The effects of CF{sub 4} plasma treatment on Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanocrystal (NC) memory were investigated. For material analysis, secondary ion mass spectrometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses were performed to characterize the fluorine depth profile of the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}-NC film. In addition, an UV-visible spectrophotometer was used to obtain the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} bandgap and analyzed to suggest the modified structure of the energy band. Moreover, the electrical properties, including the memory window, program/erase speed, charge retention, and endurance characteristics were significantly improved depending on the CF{sub 4} plasma treatment conditions. This can be explained by the physical model based on the built-in electric field in the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanostructure. However, it was observed that too much CF{sub 4} plasma caused large surface roughness induced by the plasma damage, leading to characteristics degradation. It was concluded that with suitable CF{sub 4} plasma treatment, this Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}-NC memory can be applied to future nonvolatile memory applications.

• OSTI ID: 21538182
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 109, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3556761; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE
CARBON TETRAFLUORIDE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ENERGY GAP
FILMS
FLUORINE
GADOLINIUM OXIDES
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
NANOSTRUCTURES
PLASMA
RANDOMNESS
ROUGHNESS
SPECTROPHOTOMETERS
SURFACES
SURFACTANTS
TRANSFORMATIONS
VELOCITY
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
CHALCOGENIDES
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
ENZYMES
ESTERASES
FLUORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
GADOLINIUM COMPOUNDS
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HALOGENS
HYDROLASES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHATASES
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROTEINS
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACE PROPERTIES