• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.133-133
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• 2009

It is desirable to choose a high-k material having a large band offset with the tunneling oxide and a deep trapping level for use as the charge trapping layer to achieve high PIE (Programming/erasing) speeds and good reliability, respectively. In this paper, charge trapping and tunneling characteristics of high-k hafnium oxide ($HfO_2$) layer with various thicknesses were investigated for applications of tunnel barrier engineered nonvolatile memory. A critical thickness of $HfO_2$ layer for suppressing the charge trapping and enhancing the tunneling sensitivity of tunnel barrier were developed. Also, the charge trap centroid and charge trap density were extracted by constant current stress (CCS) method. As a result, the optimization of $HfO_2$ thickness considerably improved the performances of non-volatile memory(NVM).

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.241-244
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• 2014

Charge trap flash memory capacitors incorporating $(HfO_2)_x(Al_2O_3)_{1-x}$ film, as the charge trapping layer, were fabricated. The effects of the charge trapping layer composition on the memory characteristics were investigated. It is found that the memory window and charge retention performance can be improved by adding Al atoms into pure $HfO_2$; further, the memory capacitor with a $(HfO_2)_{0.9}(Al_2O_3)_{0.1}$ charge trapping layer exhibits optimized memory characteristics even at high temperatures. The results should be attributed to the large band offsets and minimum trap energy levels. Therefore, the $(HfO_2)_{0.9}(Al_2O_3)_{0.1}$ charge trapping layer may be useful in future nonvolatile flash memory device application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.124-125
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• 2008

The charge trapping and tunnelling characteristics with various thickness of $Si_3N_4$ layer were investigated for application of TBE (Tunnel Barrier Engineered) non-volatile memory. We confirmed that the critical thickness of no charge trapping was existed with decreasing $Si_3N_4$ thickness. Also, the charge trap centroid x and charge trap density were extracted by using CCS (Constant Current Stress) method. Through the optimized thickness of $Si_3N_4$ layer, it can be improve the performance of non-volatile memory.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.16-19
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• 2014

Charge trapping nonvolatile memory capacitors with $ZrO_2$ as charge trapping layer were fabricated, and the effects of post annealing atmosphere ($NH_3$ and $N_2$) on their memory storage characteristics were investigated. It was found that the memory windows were improved, after annealing treatment. The memory capacitor after $NH_3$ annealing treatment exhibited the best electrical characteristics, with a 6.8 V memory window, a lower charge loss ~22.3% up to ten years, even at $150^{\circ}C$, and excellent endurance (1.5% memory window degradation). The results are attributed to deep level bulk charge traps, induced by using $NH_3$ annealing.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.138-142
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• 2019

As the NAND flash memory goes to 3D vertical Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (SONOS) structure, the lateral charge migration can be critical in the reliability performance. Even more, with miniaturization of flash memory cell device, just a little movement of trapped charge can cause reliability problems. In this paper, we propose a method of predicting the trapped charge profile in the retention mode. Charge diffusivity in the charge trapping layer (Si₃N₄) was extracted experimentally, and the effect on the trapped charge profile was demonstrated by the simulation and experiment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.310-310
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• 2016

최근 NAND flash memory는 높은 집적성과 데이터의 비휘발성, 낮은 소비전력, 간단한 입, 출력 등의 장점들로 인해 핸드폰, MP3, USB 등의 휴대용 저장 장치 및 노트북 시장에서 많이 이용되어 왔다. 특히, 최근에는 smart watch, wearable device등과 같은 차세대 디스플레이 소자에 대한 관심이 증가함에 따라 유연하고 투명한 메모리 소자에 대한 연구가 다양하게 진행되고 있다. 대표적인 플래시 메모리 소자의 구조로 charge trapping type flash memory (CTF)가 있다. CTF 메모리 소자는 trap layer의 trap site를 이용하여 메모리 동작을 하는 소자이다. 하지만 작은 window의 크기, trap site의 열화로 인해 메모리 특성이 나빠지는 문제점 등이 있다. 따라서 최근, trap layer에 다양한 물질을 적용하여 CTF 소자의 문제점을 해결하고자 하는 연구들이 진행되고 있다. 특히, 산화물 반도체인 zinc oxide (ZnO)를 trap layer로 하는 CTF 메모리 소자가 최근 몇몇 보고 되었다. 산화물 반도체인 ZnO는 n-type 반도체이며, shallow와 deep trap site를 동시에 가지고 있는 독특한 물질이다. 이 특성으로 인해 메모리 소자의 programming 시에는 deep trap site에 charging이 일어나고, erasing 시에는 shallow trap site에 캐리어들이 쉽게 공급되면서 deep trap site에 갇혀있던 charge가 쉽게 de-trapped 된다는 장점을 가지고 있다. 따라서, 본 실험에서는 산화물 반도체인 ZnO를 trap layer로 하는 CTF 소자의 메모리 특성을 확인하기 위해 간단한 구조인 metal-oxide capacitor (MOSCAP)구조로 제작하여 메모리 특성을 평가하였다. 먼저, RCA cleaning 처리된 n-Si bulk 기판 위에 tunnel layer인 SiO2 5 nm를 rf sputter로 증착한 후 furnace 장비를 이용하여 forming gas annealing을 $450^{\circ}C$에서 실시하였다. 그 후 ZnO를 20 nm, SiO2를 30 nm rf sputter로 증착한 후, 상부전극을 E-beam evaporator 장비를 사용하여 Al 150 nm를 증착하였다. 제작된 소자의 신뢰성 및 내구성 평가를 위해 상온에서 retention과 endurance 측정을 진행하였다. 상온에서의 endurance 측정결과 1000 cycles에서 약 19.08%의 charge loss를 보였으며, Retention 측정결과, 10년 후 약 33.57%의 charge loss를 보여 좋은 메모리 특성을 가지는 것을 확인하였다. 본 실험 결과를 바탕으로, 차세대 메모리 시장에서 trap layer 물질로 산화물 반도체를 사용하는 CTF의 연구 및 계발, 활용가치가 높을 것으로 기대된다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2023

As a potential alternative to flash memory, HfO₂/Al₂O₃ stacks appear to be a viable option as charge capture layers in charge trapping memories. The paper undertakes a review of HfO₂/Al₂O₃ stacks as charge trapping layers, with a focus on comparing the number, thickness, and post-deposition heat treatment and γ-ray and white x-ray treatment of such stacks. Compared to a single HfO₂ layer, the memory window of the 5-layered stack increased by 152.4% after O₂ annealing at ±12 V. The memory window enlarged with the increase in number of layers in the stack and the increase in the Al/Hf content in the stack. Furthermore, our comparison of the treatment of HfO₂/Al₂O₃ stacks with varying annealing temperatures revealed that an increased annealing temperature resulted in a wider storage window. The samples treated with O₂ and subjected to various γ radiation intensities displayed superior resistance. and the memory window increased to 12.6 V at ±16 V for 100 kGy radiation intensity compared to the untreated samples. It has also been established that increasing doses of white x-rays induced a greater number of deep defects. The optimization of stacking layers along with post-deposition treatment condition can play significant role in extending the memory window.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.130-134
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• 2015

This research proposes the use of a composition modulated (ZrO₂)_x(Al₂O₃)_1-x film as a charge trapping layer for charge trap flash memory; this is possible when the Zr (Al) atomic percent is controlled to form a variable bandgap as identified by the valence band offsets and electron energy loss spectrum measurements. Compared to memory devices with uniform compositional (ZrO₂)_0.1(Al₂O₃)_0.9 or a (ZrO₂)_0.92(Al₂O₃)_0.08 trapping layer, the memory device using the composition modulated (ZrO₂)_x(Al₂O₃)_1-x as the charge trapping layer exhibits a larger memory window (6.0 V) at the gate sweeping voltage of ±8 V, improved data retention, and significantly faster program/erase speed. Improvements of the memory characteristics are attributed to the special energy band alignments resulting from non-uniform distribution of elemental composition. These results indicate that the composition modulated (ZrO₂)_x(Al₂O₃)_1-x film is a promising candidate for future nonvolatile memory device applications.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.256-261
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• 2010

In this work, high-k dielectric stacks of $HfO_2$ and $HfO_2$/$Al_2O_3$/$HfO_2$ (HAH) were deposited on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates by atomic layer deposition as charge trapping layers in charge trapping devices. The structural stability and the charge trapping characteristics of such stacks were investigated using Metal-Alumina-Hafnia-Oxide-Silicon (MAHOS) structure. The surface roughness of $HfO_2$ was stable up to 11 nm with the insertion of 0.2 nm thick $Al_2O_3$. The effect of the thickness of the HAH stack and the thickness of intermediate $Al_2O_3$ on charge trapping characteristics were investigated for MAHOS structure under various gate bias pulse with duration of 100 ms. The threshold voltage shift after programming and erase showed that the memory window was increased with increasing bias on gate. However, the programming window was independent of the thickness of HAH charge trapping layers. When the thickness of $Al_2O_3$insertion increased from 0.2 nm to 1 nm, the erase window was decreased without change in the programming window.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.14-17
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• 2008

A charge trapping host structure was developed to improve the light-emitting efficiency of green phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. N, N'-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene(mCP) and a spirobifluorene based triplet host(PHl) were co-deposited as hosts in the emitting layer and the device performance was examined according to the composition mCP and PH1. The results showed that the quantum efficiency could be improved by 30 % using a mixed host of mCP and PH1.