Impact of the interfaces in the charge trap layer on the storage characteristics of ZrO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate-based charge trap flash memory cells

Abstract: The charge trap flash memory cells incorporating high-k ZrO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate as charge trapping layers and amorphous Al2O3 as tunneling and blocking layers were prepared, investigated and optimized. The interfaces between ZrO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate play an important role in the charge storage characteristics. With increasing number of the interfaces in the charge trapping layer, the memory window increases first and then decreases due to electrostatic repulsion between the trapped electrons. A satisfactory retention performance was observed in the optimized cell structure, which was attributed to the deep quantum wells between the ZrO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]