Formation of SrTiO3 nanocrystals in amorphous Lu2O3 high-k gate dielectric for floating gate memory application

We have developed a method based upon pulsed laser deposition to produce SrTiO3 nanocrystals embedded in amorphous Lu2O3 high-k dielectric. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy study revealed the complete isolation of SrTiO3 nanocrystals embedded in Lu2O3 matrix with 4nm diameter and well distributed with an area density estimated to be about 8×1011cm−2. A pronounced capacitance-voltage hysteresis is observed with a memory window of ∼1.5V under the 6V programming. In addition, the retention characteristics are tested to be robust.