Floating-gated memory based on carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with Si floating dots

We have fabricated a carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (CNTFET)-based nonvolatile memory device with Si floating dots. The electrical characteristics of this memory device were compared with those of devices with a HfO2 charge storage layer or Au floating dots. For a sweep width of 6 V, the memory window of the devices with the Si floating dots increased twofold as compared with that of the devices with the HfO2 layer. Moreover, the retention characteristics revealed that, for the device with the Au floating dots, the off-state had almost the same current as the on-state at the 400th s. However, the devices with the Si floating dots had longer-retention characteristics. The results indicate that CNTFET-based devices with Si floating dots are promising candidates for low-power consumption nonvolatile memory devices.