Silicon Nanowire Charge-Trap Memory Incorporating Self-Assembled Iron Oxide Quantum Dots

Charge-trap non-volatile memory devices based upon the precise integration of quantum dot storage elements with silicon nanowire field-effect transistors are described. Template-assisted assembly yields an ordered array of FeO QDs within the trenches that separate highly aligned SiNWs, and injected charges are reversibly stored via Fowler–Nordheim tunneling into the QDs. Stored charges shift the transistor threshold voltages, providing the basis for a memory device. Quantum dot size is found to strongly influence memory performance metrics.