Formation of stacked Ni silicide nanocrystals for nonvolatile memory application

The formation of stacked Ni silicide nanocrystals by using a comixed target is proposed in this letter. High resolution transmission electron microscope analysis clearly shows the stacked nanocrystals embedded in the silicon oxide. The memory window enough to define “1” and “0” states is obviously observed at low voltage programming conditions, and good data retention characteristics are exhibited for the nonvolatile memory application. A physical model is also proposed further to explain the saturation phenomenon of threshold voltage at different programming voltages with operation duration.