Comparison of gadolinium oxide trapping layers in flash memory applications

•High dielectric constant materials as trapping layer for flash memory.•Ti-doped gadolinium oxide can enhance charge capture density of the trapping layer.•The sample under RTA annealing at 900 °C has the best charge storage ability.

This paper examines a high-k dielectric material used as a flash memory charge trapping layer. Specifically, the addition Ti into a Gd2O3 film trapping layer and placed under different RTA is compared with Gd2O3 samples, and the physical and electrical characterizations of different MOHOS-type memory structures are compared. Our research shows a faster program/erase speed and larger memory window resulting from the Gd2TiO5 trapping layer due to its increased charge capture density. Furthermore, a structure comprised of Al/SiO2/Gd2TiO5/SiO2/Si annealed at 900 °C in O2 ambient for 30 s demonstrated superior electrical characteristics. Our research indicates that memory devices using Gd2TiO5 with post-annealing treatment show promise for future flash memory applications.