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

Characteristics of Gd2O3 nanocrystal (Gd2O3-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 (qϕBn + qϕBp) 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).