Controllable capacitance-voltage hysteresis width in the aluminum-cerium-dioxide-silicon metal-insulator-semiconductor structure: Application to nonvolatile memory devices without ferroelectrics

The Al/CeO2/Si metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure showed a capacitance-voltage (C-V) hysteresis, which could be controlled by variation of the CeO2 thickness. For a sample with 3000 A CeO2, hysteresis width as high as similar to 1.8 V was obtained. For nonvolatile field-effect transistors, the Al/CeO2/Si MIS structure with a reliable and controllable C-V hysteresis could be an alternative to metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor structures containing unstable, multicomponent ferroelectric materials. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02214-2].