Flatband voltage adjustment in a semiconductor device
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorRoy Meade
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Memory devices, methods for fabricating, and methods for adjusting flatband voltages are disclosed. In one such memory device, a pair of source/drain regions are formed in a semiconductor. A dielectric material is formed on the semiconductor between the pair of source/drain regions. A control gate is formed on the dielectric material. A charged species is introduced into the dielectric material. The charged species, e.g., mobile ions, has an energy barrier in a range of greater than about 0.5 eV to about 3.0 eV. A flatband voltage of the memory device can be adjusted by moving the charged species to different levels within the dielectric material, thus programming different states into the device.
Claims17
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a semiconductor;
- a dielectric material adjacent to the semiconductor;
- a charged species in the dielectric material that has an activation energy of diffusion within the dielectric material in a range of greater than about 0.9 eV to about 3.0 eV and is configured to provide data retention in the dielectric material;
- and
- a control gate adjacent to the dielectric material.
A non-volatile memory device comprising:
- a semiconductor having a pair of source/drain regions;
- a dielectric material adjacent to the semiconductor between the pair of source/drain regions;
- a charged species in the dielectric material that has an activation energy of diffusion within the dielectric material greater than about 0.9 eV and is configured to provide data retention in the dielectric material;
- and
- a control gate adjacent to the dielectric material.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a semiconductor;
- a dielectric material adjacent to the semiconductor;
- a charged species in the dielectric material that has an activation energy of diffusion within the dielectric material greater than that of hydrogen ions in the dielectric material to about 3.0 eV and is configured to provide data retention in the dielectric material;
- and
- a control gate adjacent to the dielectric material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.