Patent Abstract:
A memory device includes a plurality of cells, each having a first electrode coupled to a first location on semiconductor material, a second electrode coupled to a second location disposed away from the first location on the semiconductor material and a plurality of islands of semiconductor material. The islands have a maximum dimension of three to five nanometers and are surrounded by an insulator having a thickness of between five and twenty nanometers. The islands and the surrounding insulator are formed in pores extending into the semiconductor material between the first and second electrodes. As a result, the memory cells are able to provide consistent, externally observable changes in response to the presence or absence of a single electron on the island.

Full Description:
This application is continuation of Ser. No. 09/141,767 filed Aug. 27, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,260. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to integrated circuit memory devices, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing high density, high storage capacity, low power, nonvolatile memory devices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Single electron devices, and particularly single electron memory cells, are presently of great interest, due to potential advantages in memory cell size and power dissipation, compared to memory technologies currently in use. As used herein, the term “single electron device” refers to an electronic device capable of providing a repeatable and measurable response to the presence or absence of a single electron. 
     As device sizes have shrunk over the last several decades, the number of electrons contributing to the drain current in field effect transistors (“FETs”) used in memory devices has correspondingly decreased. Extrapolation from these trends suggests that in another decade, FETs will have drain currents including as few as ten electrons at a time. When so few electrons contribute to a current and therefore to a signal, normal fluctuations in the number of electrons present in a volume of semiconductor material can lead to uncertainty or error in the signal that the current represents. 
     Memories using single electron memory cells provide certainty in numbers of electrons representing data in a memory cell and therefore help to avoid problems due to fluctuations in the number of electrons that are present in a transistor at one time. Memory cells employing single electron transistors are also extremely simple and can be quite small. For example, a memory structure employing vertically stacked cells to provide an area per bit of 0.145 squared is described in “A 3-D Single-Electron-Memory Cell Structure with 2F 2  per bit” by T. Ishii et al. (IEDM 97), pp. 924-926. 
     The combination of size, power requirements and simplicity make single electron structures promising candidates for very high capacity memory integrated circuits. This is discussed in more detail in “Single-Electron-Memory Integrated Circuit for Giga-to-Tera Bit Storage” by K. Yano et al., 1996 Intl. Solid State Circuits Conf. (Feb. 9, 1996), pp. 266-267 and “A 128 Mb Early Prototype for Gigascale Single-Electron Memories” by K. Yano et al., 1998 Intl. Solid State Circuits Conf. (Feb. 7, 1998), pp. 344-345. 
     FIG. 1A is a simplified schematic diagram of a typical two-terminal single electron device  20 , in accordance with the prior art. The single electron device  20  includes first  22  and second  24  electrodes and an island  26  formed from conductive material, which may be semiconductor material, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,598, entitled “Single Electron Tunnel Device And Method For Fabricating The Same” issued to H. Kado et al. (Mar. 24, 1998). The first  22  and second  24  electrodes are each separated from the island  26  by small insulating gaps  28 ,  28 ′. The first  22  and second  24  electrodes, the island  26  and the gaps  28 ,  28 ′ are all collectively mounted on an insulating substrate  30  or are surrounded by an insulator. The gaps  28 ,  28 ′ may be formed of any insulating material but must be small enough to allow conduction band electrons  32  (hereinafter “electrons”) to tunnel through them in response to a voltage V coupled across the first  22  and second  24  electrodes. The voltage V is provided by an external source, represented in FIG. 1A by a battery  34 . 
     A first condition for trapping one or more electrons  32  on the island  26  is that the resistance R between the island  26  and other structures on the substrate  30  must be greater than a quantum resistance R k , as is discussed, for example, in “Single-electron devices” by H. Ahmed et al., Microelectronic Engineering 32 (1996), pp. 297-315, and “Single electron electronics: Challenge for nanofabrication” by H. Ahmed, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 15(6) (November/December 1997), pp. 2101-2108. When the first  22  and second  24  electrodes and the island  26  are mounted on the insulating substrate  30  and are surrounded by an insulator such as air, a primary resistance R between the island  26  and any other structure is set by tunneling resistances R t  associated with the gaps  28 ,  28 ′ separating the island  26  from the first  22  and second  24  electrodes. The quantum resistance R k  equals h/q 2 , or about 26 kΩ, where h is Planck&#39;s constant and q represents the charge of a single electron. This first condition will be satisfied for all of the examples considered herein but is included for completeness sake. 
     A second condition is that allowed states for these electrons  32  must be separated from a conduction band edge E C  by an “electron charging energy” that is given as q 2 /2C, where C represents a capacitance of the island  26 . In other words, a first electron  32  that is introduced onto the island  26  will occupy an allowed state having a potential energy that is greater than that of the conduction band edge E C  for the material forming the island  26  by q 2 /2C. 
     A third condition is that, for the electron or electrons  32  to be trapped on the island  26 , the electron charging energy q 2 /2C must be substantially greater than an average thermal energy kT, or q 2 /2C&gt;kT, where k represents Boltzmann&#39;s constant and T represents temperature in Kelvin. The capacitance C must be on the order of one attoFarad for electrons  32  to be trapped on the island  26  for any appreciable length of time at room temperature (kT=0.026 eV at room temperature). For example, an island  26  having a capacitance of 10 −16  F is about 100 nanometers in diameter but can only exhibit single-electron effects at temperatures at or below about 4 Kelvin. Islands  26  having diameters of one to five nanometers exhibit significant single-electron effects at room temperature (circa 300 K). 
     FIG. 1B is a simplified potential energy diagram for the device  20  of FIG. 1A showing a potential well  40 , in accordance with the prior art. FIG. 1B shows Fermi levels (“E F ”)  42 ,  44  in the first  22  and second  24  electrodes, respectively, a lowest allowed state  46  for one electron  32  in the potential well  40  on the island  26 , and energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ associated with insulating materials forming the gaps  28 ,  28 ′, respectively. An important property of the device  20  of FIG. 1A is that no significant current can flow through the device  20  until a magnitude of the potential V due to the external source  34  equals or exceeds the electron charging energy or V≧q 2 /2C. FIG. 1C is a simplified potential energy diagram illustrating the potential V setting the Fermi level  42  at the left side of the Figure equal to the lowest allowed state of the potential well  40 , i.e., at the onset of conduction, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 1D is a simplified graph of an I-V characteristic  50  for the device  20  of FIG. 1A, in accordance with the prior art. The I-V characteristic  50  shows essentially no conduction until the applied voltage V reaches a threshold V C , causing the Fermi level  42  on the electron supply side to be equal to the electron charging energy q 2 /2C. The region of essentially no conduction is known as the Coulomb blockade region. When the applied voltage V reaches the threshold V C , known as the Coulomb gap voltage, the energy barrier effectively vanishes. Linear I-V dependence is seen in FIG. 1D for voltages having an absolute magnitude exceeding V C . 
     FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic illustration of a typical field effect transistor (“FET”)  60  that includes the island  26  of FIG. 1A for storing one or more electrons  32 , in accordance with the prior art. The FET  60  includes all of the elements of the two-terminal device  20  of FIG.  1  and additionally includes a gate  62  having a capacitance C G  and a gate bias supply  64 . The gate bias supply  64  includes a first electrode coupled to the gate  62  and a second electrode coupled to one side of the supply  34  providing the voltage V. The FET  60  has a channel  66  formed from semiconductor material that is coupled to the first  22  and second  24  electrodes. 
     Several examples of FETs  60  capable of providing repeatable output signals indicative of single electron  32  storage on the islands  26  are described in “A Room-Temperature Silicon Single-Electron Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Memory With Nanoscale Floating-Gate and Ultranarrow Channel” by L. Guo et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 70(7) (Feb. 17, 1997), pp. 850-852 and “Fabrication And Characterization of Room Temperature Silicon Single Electron Memory” by L. Guo et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 15(6) (November/December 1997), pp. 2840-2843. Similar FETs  60  are described in “Room Temperature Operation of Si Single-Electron-Memory with Self-Aligned Floating Dot Gate” (IEDM 1996), pp. 952-954, Appl. Phys. Lett. 70(13) (Mar. 31, 1997), pp. 1742-1744 and “Si Single Electron Tunneling Transistor With Nanoscale Floating Dot Stacked on a Coulomb Island by Self-Aligned Process,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 71(3) (Jul. 21, 1997), pp. 353-355, all by A. Nakajima et al. These FETs  60  employ feature sizes as small as 30 nanometers and require much closer alignment between elements than 30 nanometers. Formation of such small feature sizes using electron beam lithography does not presently lend itself to mass production. 
     These FETs  60  employ a floating island  26  between the gate  62  and the channel  66  to modulate conductivity in the channel  66 . In these FETs  60 , the island  26  spans the width of the channel  66 . 
     It will be appreciated that other techniques for forming the islands  26  may be employed. For example, shallow implantation of relatively high doses (e.g., ca. 5-50×10 14 /cm 2 ) of silicon or germanium at relatively low energies (e.g., ca. 20 keV) into relatively thin (e.g., ca. 5-20 or more nanometers) silicon dioxide layers, followed by annealing, provides nanocrystals of the implanted species that are insulated from each other and from an underlying silicon region, as described in “Fast and Long Retention-Time Nano-Crystal Memory” by H. Hanafi et al., IEEE Trans. El. Dev., Vol. 43, No. 9 (September 1996), pp. 1553-1558. Performance of memories using islands  26  formed from nanocrystals in proximity to the channel  66  is discussed in “Single Charge and Confinement Effects in Nano-Crystal Memories” by S. Tiwari et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69(9) (Aug. 26, 1996), pp. 1232-1234. 
     Prior art FETs may provide multiple islands  26  between the gate  62  and the channel  66 , and are capable of storing multiple electrons  32 . As a result, these FETs are analogous to conventional flash memories and are capable of multilevel signal storage and readout. An example of an arrangement for discriminating between multiple signal levels that may represent a stored signal is given in “Novel Level-Identifying Circuit for Multilevel Memories” by D. Montanari et al., IEEE Jour. Sol. St. Cir., Vol. 33, No. 7 (July 1998), pp. 1090-1095. 
     FETs  60  including one or more islands  26  suitable for capture of electrons  32  thus are able to provide measurable and repeatable changes in their electrical properties in response to capture of the electron or electrons  32  on at least one island  26 . Moreover, these FETs  60  provide these changes in a convergent manner, i.e., the changes may be produced by storage of a single electron  32  and storage of that single electron  32  can inhibit storage of another electron  32 . In this way, some of the FETs  60  avoid some problems due to number fluctuations in the population of electrons  32  that could otherwise be troublesome for FETs  60  having very small populations of electrons  32 . 
     Additionally, the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ cause the single electron device  20  and the FETs  60  to store trapped electrons  32  for significant periods of time, even in the absence of externally applied electrical power (e.g., voltage sources  34 ,  64 ). As a result, a nonvolatile memory function is provided by these devices  20  and FETs  60 . 
     While single electron devices  20  and FETs  60  show great promise as memory cells for very high density memory arrays, fabrication difficulties prevent mass production of memory arrays using these devices  20 ,  60  as memory cells. Difficulties in regulating the size of the island or islands  26  and the thickness of the surrounding dielectric materials forming the gaps  28 ,  28 ′ cause problems, particularly with respect to uniformity of device characteristics across many similar devices on a wafer or substrate. Difficulties in realizing the fine line interconnections (e.g., ca. 0.4 micron pitch) and other needed elements also cause poor yields in fabrication of these devices  20 ,  60 . 
     There is therefore a need for a method for fabricating single electron devices that is robust and that provides reproducible single-electron device characteristics. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect, the present invention includes a memory cell having a first electrode coupled to a first location on semiconductor material, a second electrode coupled to a second location disposed away from the first location on the semiconductor material and a plurality of islands of conductive material having a maximum dimension of three nanometers and surrounded by an insulator having a thickness of between five and twenty nanometers. The islands and the insulator are formed in pores extending into the semiconductor material between the first and second electrodes. As a result, electrons may tunnel into or out of the islands with the assistance of externally-applied fields. The capacitance of the islands is small enough that single electrons stored on the islands provide consistent, externally observable changes in the memory cells. 
     In other aspects, the present invention provides methods for reading data from, writing data to and erasing memory cells capable of storing data by the presence or absence of a single electron in an island of conductive material contained in the memory cells. The reading, writing and erasing operations may be accompanied by a verification process that compensates for stored charge, trap generation and the like that otherwise might obscure desired data. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1A is a simplified schematic diagram of a typical two-terminal single electron device, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 1B is a simplified potential energy diagram for the device of FIG. 1A, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 1C is a simplified potential energy diagram, illustrating the potential V setting the Fermi level at the left side of the figure equal to the lowest allowed state of the potential well of FIG. 1B, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 1D is a simplified graph of an I-V characteristic for the device of FIG. 1A, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic illustration of a typical field effect transistor that includes the island of FIG. 1A for storing one or more electrons, in accordance with the prior art. 
     FIG. 3A is a simplified plan view of a memory device including memory cells employing single electron memory devices having electrical characteristics similar to those of the devices of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with embodiments of the resent invention. 
     FIG. 3B is a simplified isometric view of a single electron resistor memory device in the memory cell of FIG. 3A, in accordance with embodiments of the Present invention. 
     FIG. 3C is a simplified cross-sectional view of the device of FIG. 3B, showing islands included within the semiconductor material of the body, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of a process for reading the memory cell of FIGS. 3A-C, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are simplified flow charts for processes for writing data to the memory cell of FIGS. 3A-C and for erasing data stored in the memory cell, respectively, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a graph representing storage and erase time estimates for various energy barriers, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a simplified flowchart of a process for forming the islands of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIGS. 9A,  9 B,  9 C,  9 D and  9 E are simplified cross-sectional views of the islands as they are being formed using the process of FIG. 8, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a computer system including the memory device of FIGS. 3A-C, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 3A is a simplified plan view of a memory device  72  including a memory cell  73  having electrical characteristics similar to those of the devices  20  and  60  of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The memory device  72  includes a column addressing circuit  74  coupled to a plurality of column address lines  75 , and a row addressing circuit  76  coupled to a plurality of row address lines  77 . The memory cell  73  is located at an intersection of a column address line  75  and a row address line  77  and is addressed by activation of the column  75  and row  77  address lines coupled to the memory cell  73 , as is discussed below in more detail. 
     FIG. 3B is a simplified isometric view of a single electron resistor memory device  80  in the memory cell  73  of FIG. 3A, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The device  80  includes a body  82  having first  84  and second  86  electrodes formed at opposing ends. In one embodiment, the first  84  and second  86  electrodes form low resistance contacts to the body  82 . In one embodiment, the body  82  includes n-type semiconductor material having a donor concentration of about 10 15 /cm 3  or less and the first  84  and second  86  electrodes are N+ ohmic contacts to the body  82 . The first electrode  84  is coupled to a row address line  77  and the second electrode  86  is coupled to a column address line  75 . 
     The device  80  also optionally includes one or more gates  88 ,  88 ′ coupled to one or more erase lines  90 ,  90 ′ for erasing data stored in the device  80 . In one embodiment, the gates  88 ,  88 ′ are formed from polysilicon using conventional processing techniques. 
     FIG. 3C is a simplified cross-sectional view of the device  80  of FIG. 3B, showing islands  26  (see FIGS. 1 and 2) included within the semiconductor material  98  forming the body  82  of the device  80 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Each island  26  is surrounded by a dielectric  100  that provides the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ (FIGS. 1B and C) associated with the gaps  28 ,  28 ′, which insulate the island  26  from other islands  26  and from the semiconductor material  98 . 
     The device  80  of FIGS. 3A-C has a first state exhibiting a first current-voltage characteristic when no electrons  32  are stored on the islands  26  within the device  80 . The device  80  has a second state exhibiting a second current-voltage characteristic when one or more electrons  32  are stored in one or more islands  26  contained in the body  82  of the device  80 . In the second state, less current between the first electrode  84  and the second  86  electrode for a given voltage difference between the first  84  and second  86  electrodes than in the first state, and this difference may be detected by sensing circuitry (not illustrated) coupled to the column  75  or the row  77  address lines. Processes for switching the device  80  between the first and second states by storage and removal of electrons  32  from the island or islands  26  in the body  82  of the device  80  are explained in more detail below. 
     To store one or more electrons  32  in the body  82  of the device  80 , the column address line  75  is coupled to a first voltage (e.g., ground) and the row address line  77  is coupled to a second voltage (e.g., four volts) sufficient to cause single electrons  32  (FIG. 1) to tunnel into and to be stored on one or more of the islands  26  in the body  82  of the device  80 , as is explained below in more detail with reference to FIG.  5 . As a result, the device  80  changes from the first state to the second state. 
     To erase information represented by one or more stored electrons  32  stored on the island or islands  26  within the body  82  of the device  80 , the row  77  or column  75  (or both) address line is coupled to an electron sink (e.g., ground). The body  82  is depleted of mobile charge carriers by an externally-applied bias, which also tilts the barriers  48 ,  48 ′ and results in field-assisted tunneling of electrons  32  stored in the potential wells  40  of the islands  26  from the islands  26  into the body  82 . In one embodiment, a negative potential is applied to one or more gate electrodes  88 ,  88 ′ sufficient to completely deplete the semiconductor material  98  forming the body  82  of mobile charge carriers (i.e., electrons  32  or holes) to allow any stored electrons  32  to tunnel out of the island or islands  26 . Electrons  32  tunneling out of the islands  26  are removed from the semiconductor material  98  by electrical fields induced by the voltage applied to the gate electrodes  88 ,  88 ′. As a result, the device  80  is restored to the first state. 
     A change in a current I between the first  84  and the second  86  electrode, corresponding to a difference ΔI in the current I between the first and second states, can be estimated as follows. The body  82  of the device  80  has a cross-sectional area A, a length L between the first  84  and second  86  electrodes and a number n T  of electrons  32  trapped on the islands  26 . A conductivity σ for the semiconductor material  98 , as could be measured between the first  84  and second  86  electrodes, is given by nqμA/L, where μ represents the electron mobility and n represents the number of mobile charge carriers (electrons  32 ) per cubic centimeter. Assuming that each of the n T  trapped electrons  32  results in one fewer mobile electron  32  per cubic centimeter, the change in current ΔI through the device  80  may be estimated as ΔI=(n T /AL)(qμAV/L)=n T qμVL 2 . A voltage V of one volt, a mobility μ of 600 cm 2 /(v-sec) and a length L of one micrometer corresponds to a decrease in current ΔI due to one stored electron  32  of 10 nanoamperes. 
     In one embodiment, the body  82  of the device  80  may have a length L of about one micrometer (10 −4  cm) and have a cross-sectional area A of about 10 −8  cm 2 . A free carrier concentration of 10 15 /cm 3  or less allows the gates  88 ,  88 ′ to be able to deplete the semiconductor material  98  with relatively low applied voltages. 
     FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of a process  120  for reading the memory cell  73  of FIG. 3A, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The process  120  begins in a step  122  by activating one of the column address lines  75  and one of the row address lines  77  of FIGS. 3A-C to address one of the memory cells  73 . In a step  124 , a bias current I B  or voltage V B  is applied to the addressed memory cell  73 , as is discussed below in more detail. In a step  126 , the addressed memory cell  73  is coupled to a sensing circuit (not shown). In some embodiments, a query task  128  then compares a measured response X M  to a threshold X T  to determine if a logical “1” or a logical “0” is stored in the memory cell  73  as is described below in more detail. 
     In one embodiment, when a bias current I B  is supplied from a current source (not shown) to, for example, the first electrode  84  of the addressed memory cell  73 , the measured response X M  is a voltage, measured, for example, across the first  84  and second  86  electrodes. When the query task  128  determines that the measured response X M  exceeds the threshold X T , at least one electron  32  is stored in the memory cell  73  and the memory cell  73  is storing a first logical state. When the query task  128  determines that the measured response X M  does not exceed the threshold X T , no electron  32  is stored in the memory cell  73  and the memory cell  73  is storing a second logical state. 
     Conversely, in another embodiment, when a bias voltage V B  is supplied from a voltage source (not shown) to, for example, one or both of the gates  88 ,  88 ′ of the addressed memory cell  73 , the measured response X M  is a current, measured, for example, at the first electrode  84 . When the query task  128  determines that the measured response X M  exceeds the threshold X T , no electron  32  is stored in the memory cell  73  and the memory cell  73  is in the second logical state. When the query task  128  determines that the measured response X M  does not exceed the threshold X T , at least one electron  32  is stored in the memory cell  73  and the memory cell  73  is in the first logical state. 
     When the query task  128  determines that the memory cell  73  is in the first logical state, the comparison circuit indicates that the memory cell  73  is in the first logical state, e.g., that a logical “1” is stored in the memory cell  73 , in a step  130 . When the query task  128  determines that the memory cell  73  is in the second logical state, the comparison circuit indicates that a logical “0” is stored in the memory cell  73  in a step  132 . The process  120  ends following either step  130  or step  132 . 
     In another embodiment, the query task  128  discriminates between a plurality of different logical values or states that may be stored in the memory cell  73  by comparing the measured response X M  to a plurality of thresholds X Ti . An example of an arrangement for discriminating between multiple signal levels that may represent a stored signal is given in “Novel Level-Identifying Circuit for Multilevel Memories” by D. Montanari et al., IEEE Jour. Sol. St. Cir., Vol. 33, No. 7 (July 1998), pp. 1090-1095. An example of a circuit and method for programming, reading and erasing multiple single electron differences in the FETs  80  of FIGS. 3A-C is given in “Multi-State Flash Memory Cell and Method for Programming Single Electron Differences” by L. Forbes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,104. After the query task  128  determines the correct logical value for the data stored in the memory cell  73 , the data comparison circuit indicates the correct logical value in steps  130 - 132  and the process  120  ends. 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are simplified flow charts for processes  140  and  160  for writing data to the memory cell  73  of FIG.  3 A and for erasing data stored in the memory cell  73 , respectively, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The processes  140  and  160  both use a verification process similar to a conventional verification process used with flash memories to compensate for variations in memory cell characteristics from one memory cell  73  to another, as is described in “Verify: Key to the Stable Single-Electron-Memory Operation” by T. Ishii et al. (1997 IEDM), pp. 171-174. 
     With reference now to FIG. 5, the write process  140  begins in a step  142  by activating one of the column address lines  75  and one of the row address lines  77  of FIGS. 3A-C to address one of the memory cells  73 . In a step  144 , a write pulse, which may be either a current I W  or a voltage V W  pulse, is applied to the addressed memory cell  73 . In some embodiments, the step  144  is used to write a binary value to the memory cell  73 . In other embodiments, the step  144  is used to write one of a plurality of possible values or data entries to the memory cell  73  by injecting a controlled number of electrons  32  into the islands  26  of the memory cell  73 . 
     In a step  146 , an index variable n, corresponding to a number of write cycles applied to this memory cell during this write process  140 , is incremented. In a step  148 , the memory cell  73  is read by sampling a voltage or current associated with the memory cell  73 , i.e., the process  120  of FIG. 4. A query task  150  then compares the read data to the data written to the memory cell  73  in the step  144 . 
     When the query task  150  determines that the read data and the write data agree, the process  140  ends. When the query task  150  determines that the read data and the write data do not agree, control passes to a query task  152  to determine if a maximum number of cycles N has been reached (i.e., is n≧N?). The maximum number of cycles N is despite differences in programming time between memory cells  73 , without wasting excessive amounts of time in attempts to program defective memory cells  73 . When the query task  152  determines that the maximum number of cycles N has not been reached, control passes to the step  144 , and steps  144 - 150  or  152  repeat. When the query task  152  determines that the maximum number of cycles N has been reached, a step  154  records that a write failure has occurred and the process  140  ends. 
     In some embodiments, the record of a write failure that is generated in the step  154  may be used to construct a conventional memory map describing addresses of defective memory cells  73 . Memory maps are used in order to avoid writing data to, or attempting to write data to, or reading data from, memory cells  73  that are defective. In some embodiments, the record of a write failure that is generated in the step  154  may be used to replace defective memory cells  73  with memory cells  73  that are known to be working properly, as is conventional in fabrication and repair of memory devices such as dynamic random access memories. 
     In the step  144 , where a write pulse is applied to the memory cell  73 , a finite number of electrons  32  are injected into the island or islands  26 . A probability of write failure is finite and nonzero because injection of electrons  32  into the potential wells  40  (FIG. 1C) is essentially stochastic. For example, a failure probability of 0.1% is unacceptable in modern memory devices. Additionally, characteristics of the memory cell  73  may change with time, due to generation of new trapping centers or by trapping of charge in or near the memory cell  73 . 
     Reading data from the memory cell  73  after a write pulse has been applied to the memory cell allows determination that a write failure has occurred. By making the write pulses I W  or V W  longer as n increases, the probability of trapping the desired number of electrons  32  increases substantially and may approach unity. In one embodiment, a width W W  of the write pulses I W  or V W  depends geometrically on n, e.g., W W (n) ∝ 2 n , n ∈ {I}. In another embodiment, the amplitude of the write pulses depends arithmetically on n, e.g., V W (n) ∝ V W (o)(1+n/M), n ∈ {I}, where V W (o) represents an initial value and M represents a proportionality constant. 
     With reference now to FIG. 6, the erase process  160  begins in a step  162  by activating one or more of the column address lines  75  and one or more of the row address lines  77  of FIGS. 3A-C to address one or more of the memory cells  73 . In one embodiment, the step  162  selects a group of memory cells  73 , which may be a subset of the memory cells on one memory device  72 , may be all of the memory cells  73  on a memory device  72  or may include memory cells  73  from more than one memory device  72 . In a step  164 , an erase pulse, which may be either a current I E  or voltage V E , is applied to the addressed memory cell  73 . In one embodiment, the erase pulse is applied to one or both of the erase gates  88 ,  88 ′, with one or both of the electrodes  84 ,  86  coupled to a suitable electron sink. In a step  166 , an index variable n, corresponding to a number of erase cycles applied to this memory cell  80  during this erase process  160 , is incremented. In a step  168 , the memory cell  73  is read by sampling a voltage or current associated with the memory cell  73 . A query task  170  then compares the read data to an expected value (e.g., corresponding to an absence of stored electrons  32 ) to determine if the contents of the memory cell  73  were erased in the step  164 . 
     When the query task  170  determines that the contents of the memory cell  73  were erased, the process  160  ends. When the query task  170  determines that the contents of the memory cell  73  were not erased, control passes to a query task  172  to determine if a maximum number of cycles N has been reached (i.e., is n≧N?). As with the write process  140  of FIG. 5, N is chosen to balance differences in erase time from one memory cell  73  to another memory cell  73  without spending excessive time to erase defective memory cells  73 . When the query task  172  determines that the maximum number of cycles N has not been reached, control passes back to the step  164 , and steps  164 - 170  or  172  repeat. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the erase pulses V E  may be varied with n as described above for the write pulses I W  or V W  in connection with the process  140  of FIG.  5 . When the query task  172  determines that the maximum number of cycles N has been reached, a step  174  records that an erase failure has occurred The process then  160  ends. 
     In one embodiment, individual memory cells  73  are erased as needed for storage of new data. In another embodiment, all of the memory cells  73  in a group or in an entire memory device  72  are erased en masse, by addressing a group of memory cells  73  in the step  162  and application of the erase pulses in the step  164  to all of the memory cells  73  in the group or in the memory device  72  simultaneously. The steps  166 - 174  are then carried out for each memory cell  73  individually, with a step of addressing the individual memory cells  73  being carried out prior to the step  166  of incrementing the index variable n. In another embodiment, the memory cells are erased en masse, however, the steps  166 - 174  are carried out as steps  146 - 154  of the verified write process  140  of FIG.  5 . 
     An advantage of en masse erasure is that the erase process  160  is slow, typically requiring milliseconds. Erasure of the entire memory device  72  one memory cell  73  at a time takes much longer than erasure of the entire memory device  72  en masse, and this is more exaggerated as the number of memory cells  73  in the memory device  72  increases. 
     Several factors affect storage times τ S , also known as latency, for memory cells  73  incorporating islands  26  for storage of one or more electrons  32 . In general, τ S  ∝ e (ΔE/kT) e (d/d     o     ) , where ΔE represents the energy level difference between the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ and the lowest allowed state in the island  26  and d/d o  represents the relative thickness of the gaps  28 ,  28 ′. Larger ΔE values or large d/d o  values provide for longer storage times but also require higher write and erase pulse magnitudes and greater pulse durations. Additionally, ΔE is a function of the material forming the island  26  and the material forming the gaps  28 ,  28 ′. The energy level difference ΔE may be estimated by subtracting the electron affinity χINS for the material forming the gaps  28 ,  28 ′ from the electron affinity χISL for the material making up the island  26  and then adding the electron charging energy q 2 /2C, i.e., ΔE=χISL−χINS+q 2 /2C. Representative values for electron affinities χ for sever al materials are summarized below in Table I. Measured or achieved electron affinities χ depend strongly on surface treatment and surface contamination and may vary from the values given in Table I. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE I 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Electron affinities χ for selected materials. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 χ (eV) 
                 Material 
                 Use 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 4.05 
                 Si 
                 Islands 
               
               
                   
                 3.6/3.7* 
                 SiC 
                 Islands 
               
               
                   
                 1.4** 
                 C (diamond) 
                 Islands 
               
               
                   
                 0.9-4.05 
                 Silicon oxycarbide (projected) 
                 Islands 
               
               
                   
                 0.9 
                 SiO 2   
                 Gaps 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 *depending on surface treatment.  
               
               
                   
                 **diamond can manifest different values, including negative values.  
               
             
          
         
       
     
     FIG. 7 is a graph representing estimated storage  176  and erase  178  time estimates for various island electron affinities χISL together with SiO 2  barriers in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The left ordinate corresponds to a logarithm of retention time  176  at constant temperature, while the right ordinate corresponds to a logarithm of erase time  178  at constant erase voltage. Erase times  178  for the memory device  72  are determined by the height of the energy barrier  48 ,  48 ′ (FIGS. 1B and C) surrounding the island  26 . Lower energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ require lower voltage, shorter erase pulses because lower energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ provide shorter tunneling distances and much higher tunneling probabilities. Short erase times  178  are desirable for some applications of electronically-erasable memories such as the memory device  72 . 
     Lower barriers  48 ,  48 ′ also result in shorter retention times  176  due to thermal activation of electrons  32  over or through the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′. The islands  26  may be formed from silicon, from microcrystalline diamond-like films of Si (1−x) C x , with the composition ratio, x, ranging from 0.5 to one, or from silicon oxycarbide compounds, to provide electron affinities χ ranging between about 4.05 eV and 0.9 eV or less (see Table I), corresponding to energy barriers ΔE ranging from about 3.95 to about 0 eV (ignoring the charging voltage). By changing the composition of the islands  26  and the thickness of the surrounding insulator, and thus the height of the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′, charge retention times  176  can be changed from seconds, characteristic of DRAMs, to years, characteristic of hard disk drives. As a result, the memory device  72  can either be made to emulate a DRAM or a hard disk drive by varying the composition of the islands  26 . One device type can then perform all memory functions. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates that storage  176  and erase  178  times vary exponentially with the height of the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′. Presently, memories using polycrystalline silicon floating gates embedded in silicon dioxide are estimated to have charge retention times  176  of millions of years at 85° C. because the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ are large (3.2 eV), resulting in erase times  178  in the millisecond range. The high electric fields required for erasure as a result of the large energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ may result in reliability problems or, in the worst case, lead to breakdown and catastrophic failure of the device  72 . An island  26  may be composed of a material of lower or adjusted energy barrier height, such as diamond-like compounds of silicon, carbon and oxygen, to provide desired energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′. As a result, an acceptable retention time  176  can be established, whether seconds or years, by varying the relative concentrations of Si, C and  0 , thereby varying the electron affinity χ for the islands  26 . This then determines the height of the energy barriers  48 ,  48 ′ and therefore, in part, the erase time  178  for a particular erase voltage. 
     FIG. 7 shows the concepts involved using rough order-of-magnitude estimates of the variations of storage and erasure times with barrier height. The same device structure can be used either as replacements for DRAMS or as replacements for hard disk drives. Only the composition of the island  26  needs to be changed in order to change the retention time and the erasure characteristics. This may be done on one integrated circuit so that radically different types of memory functions are realized on one integrated circuit. 
     FIG. 8 is a simplified flowchart of a process  180  for forming the islands  26  of FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIGS. 9A-9E are simplified cross-sectional views of the islands  26  as they are being formed using the process  180  of FIG. 8, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The process  180  (FIG. 8) begins in a step  182  with formation of voids or pores  202  (FIG. 9A) in a suitable silicon substrate or layer  98  (FIGS.  3 C and  9 A- 9 E). In one embodiment, the voids or pores  202  are formed by processes similar to those described in “Formation Mechanism of Porous Silicon Layers Obtained by Anodization of Monocrystalline n-type Silicon in HF Solutions” by V. Dubin, Surface Science 274 (1992), pp. 82-92. In one embodiment, a current density of between 5 and 40 mA/cm is employed together with 12-24% HF. In general, increasing N D  (silicon donor concentration), HF concentration or anodization current density provides larger pores  202  and may lead to reentrant pores  202 . Pores  202  are readily and uniformly formed to have the desired characteristics when using simple and easily controlled processes. 
     In a step  184 , the silicon  98  including interiors of the pores  202  is oxidized to provide a thin oxide layer  100  (FIG.  9 B). In one embodiment, the silicon  98  is oxidized to provide the oxide layer  100  to have a thickness of between 2.5 and ten nanometers. The oxidation step  184  may be carried out using conventional oxidation techniques. In one embodiment, an inductively-coupled oxygen-argon mixed plasma is employed for oxidizing the silicon  98 , as described in “Low-Temperature Si Oxidation Using Inductively Coupled Oxygen-Argon Mixed Plasma” by M. Tabakomori et al., Jap. Jour. Appl. Phys., Part 1, Vol. 36, No. 9A (September 1997), pp. 5409-5415. In another embodiment, electron cyclotron resonance nitrous oxide plasma is employed for oxidizing the silicon  98 , as described in “Oxidation of Silicon Using Electron Cyclotron Resonance Nitrous Oxide Plasma and its Application to polycrystalline Silicon Thin Film Transistors,” J. Lee et al., Jour. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 144, No. 9 (September 1997), pp. 3283-3287 and “Highly Reliable polysilicon Oxide Grown by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Nitrous Oxide Plasma” by N. Lee et al., IEEE El. Dev. Lett., Vol. 18, No. 10 (October 1997), pp. 486-488. 
     In a step  186 , a conductive material  204  (FIG. 9C) is formed over the surface of the silicon  98  and in the pores  202 . In some embodiments, semiconductor material  204  is deposited over the surface of the silicon  98  and in the pores  202 . 
     Examples of materials  204  that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the invention include the materials listed in Table I above. The material  204  within the pores  202  forms the islands  26  and is chosen to have an electron affinity χ that, together with the thickness d/d o  and the electron affinity χ of the insulator  100  filling the gaps  28 ,  28 ′ (FIGS.  1 A and  2 ), provides storage times in a range of from hours to days or longer, together with practical erase parameters. 
     In some embodiments, silicon oxycarbide is employed as the material  204  in the step  186 . A process for forming thin microcrystalline films of silicon oxycarbide is described in “Transport Properties of Doped Silicon Oxycarbide Microcrystalline Films Produced by Spatial Separation Techniques” by R. Martins et al., Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 41/42 (1996), pp. 493-517. A diluent/reaction gas (e.g., hydrogen) is introduced directly into a region where plasma ignition takes place. The mixed gases containing the species to be deposited are introduced close to the region where the growth process takes place, which is often a substrate heater. A bias grid is located between the plasma ignition and the growth regions, spatially separating the plasma and growth regions. 
     Deposition parameters for producing doped microcrystalline Si x :C y :O z :H films may be defined by determining the hydrogen dilution rate and power density that lead to microcrystallization of the grown film  204 . The power density is typically less than 150 milliWatts per cm 3  for hydrogen dilution rates of 90%+, when the substrate temperature is about 250° C. and the gas flow is about 150 sccm. The composition of the films may then be varied by changing the partial pressure of oxygen during film growth to provide the desired characteristics. 
     In some embodiments, SiC is employed as the material  204  in the step  186 . SiC films may be fabricated by chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, laser ablation, evaporation, molecular beam epitaxy or ion implantation. Vacuum annealing of silicon substrates is another method that may be used to provide SiC layers having thicknesses ranging from 20 to 30 nanometers, as described in “Localized Epitaxial Growth of Hexagonal and Cubic SiC Films on Si by Vacuum Annealing” by Luo et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69(7) (1996), pp. 916-918. Prior to vacuum annealing, the substrates are degreased with acetone and isopropyl alcohol in an ultrasonic bath for fifteen minutes, followed by cleaning in a solution of H 2 SO 4 :H 2 O 2  (3:1) for fifteen minutes. A five minute rinse in deionized water then precedes etching with a 5% HF solution. The substrates are blown dry using dry nitrogen and placed in a vacuum chamber. The chamber is pumped to a base pressure of 1-2×10 −6  Torr. The substrate is heated to 750 to 800° C. for half an hour to grow the microcrystalline SiC film. 
     In some embodiments, silicon is employed as the material  204  in the step  186 . Methods for depositing high quality polycrystalline films of silicon on silicon dioxide substrates are given in “Growth of Polycrystalline Silicon at low Temperature on Hydrogenated Microcrystalline Silicon (μc-Si:H) Seed Layer” by Parks et al., Proceedings of the 1997 MRS Spring Symposium, Vol. 467 (1997), pp. 403-408, “Novel Plasma Control Method in PECVD for Preparing Microcrystalline Silicon” by Nishimiya et al., Proceedings of the 1997 MRS Spring Symposium, Vol. 467 (1997), pp. 397-401 and “Low Temperature (450° C.) Poly-Si Thin Film Deposition on SiO 2  and Glass Using a Microcrystalline-Si Seed Layer” by D. M. Wolfe et al., Proceedings of the 1997 MRS Spring Symposium, Vol. 472 (1997), pp. 427-432. A process providing grain sizes of about 4 nm is described in “Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon Deposited by Low-Power Electron-Cyclotron Resonance Plasma-Enhanced Chemical-Vapor Deposition” by J. P. Conde et al., Jap. Jour. Of Appl. Phys., Part I, Vol. 36, No. 1A (June 1997), pp. 38-49. Deposition conditions favoring small grain sizes for microcrystalline silicon include high hydrogen dilution, low temperature, low deposition pressure and low source-to-substrate separation. 
     In a step  188 , the portion of the materials  204  deposited in the step  20   186  that are located on the silicon surface are effectively removed. In one embodiment, in the step  188 , the portion of the materials  204  deposited in the step  186  that are located on the surface of the silicon body  98  are oxidized to provide a structure as illustrated in FIG.  9 D. The step  188  proceeds until the material  204  on the surface is completely oxidized but does not proceed for long enough to oxidize all of the material  204  in the pores  202 . As a result, isolated islands  26  of semiconductor material  204  surrounded by silicon dioxide  100  are formed in the pores  202  in the single crystal silicon  98  forming the body  82  of the device  80  (FIGS.  3 A-C). 
     Significantly, the materials listed in Table I for use in the islands  26  can be oxidized to form silicon dioxide  208  or to form a volatile gas (CO 2 ). As a result, the islands  26  may be isolated from each other by a simple oxidation process that may not require a photolithographic step. 
     In a step  190 , an optional gate oxide  210  (FIG. 9E) is formed on the silicon surface and on top of the material  204  deposited in the pores  202 . In a step  192 , the gate oxide is patterned using conventional techniques. The process  180  then ends and further fabrication is carried out using conventional processing. An advantage of the process  180  is that it does not rely on very-fine-line lithography for formation of the islands  26 . 
     Approaches using such fine line lithography are described in “A Room-Temperature Silicon Single-Electron Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Memory With Nanoscale Floating-Gate and Ultranarrow Channel” by L. Guo et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 70(7) (Feb. 17, 1997), pp. 850-852 and “Fabrication And Characterization of Room Temperature Silicon Single Electron Memory” by L. Guo et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 15(6) (November/December 1997), pp. 2840-2843. These devices were fabricated using e-beam lithography and incorporate features having widths as narrow as 25 nanometers. Similarly, devices described in “Room Temperature Operation of Si Single-Electron-Memory with Self-Aligned Floating Dot Gate” (IEDM 1996), pp. 952-954, Appl. Phys. Lett. 70(13) (Mar. 31, 1997), pp. 1742-1744 and “Si Single Electron Tunneling Transistor With Nanoscale Floating Dot Stacked on a Coulomb Island by Self-Aligned Process,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 71(3) (Jul. 21, 1997), pp. 353-355, all by A. Nakajima et al., employ feature sizes as small as 30 nanometers and require much closer alignment between elements than 30 nanometers. Formation of such small feature sizes using electron beam lithography does not presently lend itself to mass production. 
     It will be appreciated that other techniques for forming the islands  26  (FIG. 3C) may be employed. For example, shallow implantation of relatively high doses (e.g., ca. 5-50×10 14 /cm 2 ) of silicon or germanium at relatively low energies (e.g., ca. 20 keV) into relatively thin (e.g., ca. 5-20 or more nanometers) silicon dioxide layers, followed by annealing, provides nanocrystals of the implanted species that are insulated from each other and from an underlying silicon region, as described in “Fast and Long Retention-Time Nano-Crystal Memory” by H. Hanafi et al., IEEE Trans. El. Dev., Vol. 43, No. 9 (September 1996), pp. 1553-1558. Performance of memories using nanocrystals in proximity to a channel is discussed in “Single Charge and Confinement Effects in Nano-Crystal Memories” by S. Tiwari et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69(9) (Aug. 26, 1996), pp. 1232-1234. 
     FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a computer system  220  including the memory device  80  of FIGS. 3A-C, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The computer system  220  includes a central processing unit  222  for performing various computing functions, such as executing specific software to perform specific calculations or tasks. The central processing unit  222  is coupled via a bus  224  to a memory  226 , a user input interface  228 , such as a keyboard or a mouse, and a display  230 . The memory  226  may or may not include a memory management module (not illustrated) and does include ROM for storing instructions providing an operating system and read-write memory for temporary storage of data. The processor  222  operates on data from the memory  226  in response to input data from the user input interface  228  and displays results on the display  230 . The processor  222  also stores data in the read-write portion of the memory  226 . The integrated circuit  72  (FIG. 3A) is particularly useful when it is a memory integrated circuit in the read-write memory portion of the memory  226 , because it may then allow the memory  226  to provide increased information storage capacity and/or density. 
     The embodiments of the present invention provide a compact, sensitive memory cell and permit very high storage capacity memories to be fabricated. Additionally, the inventive memory cell does not require high resolution lithography for fabrication of the islands that store charge. 
     It is to be understood that even though various embodiments and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, the above disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, and yet remain within the broad principles of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8