Statistical emission of electrons from nanocrystalline silicon quantum dot memory nodes in a few-electron MOSFET memory device

Operation of a short and narrow channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) memory device with a few nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) dots in the active region has been investigated at 300 and 30 K. The discrete shift of the threshold voltage (V_th) in the current-voltage characteristics that arises from the screening effect of the charge stored in the nc-Si dot above the FET channel, suggests memory operation. It is found that the value of V_th changes with temperature whereas the magnitude of the shift in V_th is independent of temperature. The lifetime of the electrons stored in the floating node has also been investigated at different read voltages.