Improved charge trapping flash device with Al₂O₃/HfSiO stack as blocking layer

In this paper, we investigate an Al₂O₃/HfSiO stack as the blocking layer of a metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon-type (MONOS) memory capacitor. Compared with a memory capacitor with a single HfSiO layer as the blocking layer or an Al₂O₃/HfO₂ stack as the blocking layer, the sample with the Al₂O₃/HfSiO stack as the blocking layer shows high program/erase (P/E) speed and good data retention characteristics. These improved performances can be explained by energy band engineering. The experimental results demonstrate that the memory device with an Al₂O₃/HfSiO stack as the blocking layer has great potential for further high-performance nonvolatile memory applications.