Formation of sige nanocrystals in HfO ₂ using in situ chemical vapor deposition for memory applications

The formation of SiGe nanocrystals in situ on HfO ₂ using multimode chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system at the temperature of 500 °C was analyzed. The memory characteristics of SiGe nanocrystals embedded in HfO ₂ gate dielectrics were demonstrated using CMOS compatible fabrication processes. It was shown that the Ge concentration in SiGe nanocrystals increased with deposition time at equal Si/Ge flow rates. At room temperature from metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor devices with a threshold voltage shift of about 0.5 V with the application of +4 V, memory effects from floating SiGe nanocrystals in HfO ₂ were clearly observed.