Nanostructure band engineering of gadolinium oxide nanocrystal memory by CF 4 plasma treatment

Nanostructure band engineering accomplished by CF 4 plasma treatment on Gd 2 O 3 nanocrystal memory was investigated. Under the CF 4 plasma treatment, the fluorine was incorporated into the Gd 2 O 3 film and resulted in the modification of energy-band. A physical model was proposed to explain the relationship between the built-in electric field in Gd 2 O 3 nanostructure and the improved program/erase (P/E) efficiency and data retention characteristics. The memory window of the Gd 2 O 3 - NC memory with CF 4 plasma treatment and postplasma annealing was increased to 3.4 V after 10 4 P / E cycling. It is demonstrated that the Gd 2 O 3 - NC memory with nanostructure band engineering is promising for future nonvolatile memory application.