Evaluation of Gadolinium Oxide as a Blocking Layer of Charge-Trap Flash Memory Cell

A rare-earth oxide, , is evaluated for the application of the blocking layer in polysilicon-oxide-silicon nitride-oxide-silicon-type flash memory cell devices because of its high conduction-band offset and reasonably large κ value. In a dielectric stack, a monoclinic-structured shows the advantage of faster program/erase speed with comparable charge retention when compared to a conventional blocking layer. Such performance makes a promising high-κ material for the blocking layer in charge-trap flash memory devices.