A room-temperature silicon single-electron metal-oxide-semiconductor memory with nanoscale floating-gate and ultranarrow channel

We have demonstrated a room-temperature silicon single-electron transistor memory that consists of (i) a narrow channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor with a width (similar to 10 nm) smaller than the Debye screening length of single electron; and (ii) a nanoscale polysilicon dot (similar to 7x7 nm) as the floating gate embedded between the channel and the control gate. We have observed that storing one electron on the floating gate can significantly screen the channel from the potential on the control gate, leading to a discrete shift in the threshold voltage, a staircase relationship between the charging voltage and the threshold shift, and a self-limiting charging process. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.