A two-terminal write-once-read-many-times-memory device based on an aluminum nitride thin film containing Al nanocrystals.
A switching from a high-conduction state to a low-conduction state occurs in an AIN thin film containing Al nanocrystals (nc-Al) when the nc-Al is charged with electrons. The switching is explained in terms of breaking of the conductive percolation paths of the nc-AI as a result of the charging of the nc-Al. A write-once-read many times-memory (WORM) device is demonstrated based on this phenomenon. The device can be switched by charging the nc-Al with a voltage of +10 V for 100 ms, yielding a current ratio of the two memory states of more than 300 at the reading voltage of 1 V. The charged state (i.e., the low-conduction state) remains unchanged after more than 1 x 106 read cycles, and its retention time is predicted to be more than 10 years.
State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054, PR China.
Y
Y
Liu
T P
TP
Chen
L
L
Ding
Y B
YB
Li
S
S
Zhang
S
S
Fung