Field effect devices with metal nanoparticles integrated by Langmuir-Blodgett technique for non-volatile memory applications

In this work, we demonstrate a hybrid silicon-organic nanocrystal floating gate memory device combining organic insulating materials, metal nanoparticles and Si MOSFET. The nanocrystals were organically passivated gold nanoparticles (Au-nps) forming a monolayer which was deposited by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. The FET device is fabricated on a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrate using conventional silicon processing. The nanoparticle layer is separated from the channel area of the FET with a 5 nm thermal SiO2 film and is isolated from the Al gate contact with a LB-deposited organic insulator layer. The memory effect is tested by means of threshold voltage shift measurements under different program/erase pulses. The nanocrystals can be charged either from the channel through the thermal oxide layer or from the gate through the organic insulator depending on the pulse applied pulse characteristics.