High-Quality hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 for Low-Voltage High-Speed High-Temperature (Up to 250 [compfn] hbox C ) Nonvolatile Memory Technology

We report the properties of a MANAS ( hbox Metal / break hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 / hbox Nitride / hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 / hbox Si ) charge-trap memory cell structure, in which both the tunnel and the blocking dielectrics are made of high-quality hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 deposited by the molecular-atomic-deposition (MAD) technique. Compared with state-of-the-art MANOS ( hbox Metal / hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 / hbox Nitride / hbox SiO 2 / hbox Si ) and its derivatives, the MANAS structure features the following: 1) low-voltage/high-speed operation; 2) fabrication simplicity; and 3) high-temperature retention up to 250 [compfn] hbox C . These superb features of the MANAS memory cell structure can be attributed to the nearly trap-free nature of the hbox MAD Unknown character hbox Al 2 hbox O 3 , as well as its relatively high conduction band offset and low valence band offset.