Improved characteristics of Gd₂O₃ nanocrystal memory with substrate high-low junction

Characteristics of Gd₂O₃ nanocrystal (Gd ₂O₃-NC) memory with p⁺-p substrate high-low junction were investigated. The hysteresis memory window and program speed were significantly enhanced due to the band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) electrons injection by the high-low junction. Besides, under the same program/erase (P/E) cycling test, the electron and hole potential differences (qφ_Bn + qφ_Bp) will contribute to superior endurance properties of the Gd₂O₃-NC memory with p-type substrate than that with n-type one. Without sacrificing the erase speed and charge retention characteristics, the Gd₂O₃-NC memory with p⁺-p substrate high-low junction can greatly improve the memory performances and can be applied into future non-volatile memory (NVM).