Over the past years, semiconductor quantum crystallite or micro-crystals of Si and Ge have received considerable attention for both fundamental and technological reasons. Quantum size effect and visible photoluminescence have been observed in nanometer-sized Si or Ge quantum crystallites. It has two practical applications. one is to prove to be optical semiconductor devices¡Fthe other is to turn into nano-crystal memories. The material Ge is considered a promising material for optical device fabrication. It has been found that Ge quantum dots embedded in Si matrices exhibit photoluminescence (PL) originating from the spatially indirect no-phonon recombination between holes confined within the Ge dots and electrons from the conduction band of the Si. For nano-crystal memories employing discrete charge traps as storage elements have exhibited great potential in device performance, power consumption, and technology scalability, thus recently attracting much research attention as promising candidates to replace the conventional DRAM or Flash memories. In the thesis, we will discuss the material properties of SiNGe and SiCNGe films, such as FTIR, AES, Raman Scattering spectrum analysis. The write/erase and retention characteristics of the nano-crystal are presented through current¡Vvoltage (I¡VV) and capacitance¡Vvoltage (C¡VV) measurements.

No description available.

Phase change devices in both optical and electrical formats have been subject of intense research since their discovery by Ovshinsky in the early 1960’s. They have revolutionized the technology of optical data storage and have very recently been adopted for non-volatile semiconductor memories. Their great success relies on their remarkable properties enabling high-speed, low power consumption and stable retention. Nevertheless, their full potential is still yet to be realized. Operations in electrical phase change devices rely on the large resistivity contrast between the crystalline (low resistance) and amorphous (high resistance) structures. The underlying mechanisms of phase transformations and the relation between structural and electrical properties in phase change materials are quite complex and need to be understood more deeply. For this purpose, we compare different approaches to mathematical modelling that have been suggested to realistically simulate the crystallization and amorphization of phase change materials. In this thesis the recently introduced Gillespie Cellular Automata (GCA) approach is used to obtain direct simulation of the structural phases and the electrical states of phase change materials and devices. The GCA approach is a powerful technique to understand the nanostructure evolution during the crystallization (SET) and amorphization (RESET) processes in phase change devices over very wide length scales. Using this approach, a detailed study of the electrical properties and nanostructure dynamics during SET and RESET processes in a PCRAM cell is presented. Besides the possibility of binary storage in phase change memory devices, there is a wider and far-reaching potential for using them as the basis for new forms of arithmetic and cognitive computing. The origin of such potential lies in a previously under-explored property, namely accumulation which has the potential to implement basic arithmetic computations. We exploit and explore this accumulative property in films and devices. Furthermore, we also show that the same accumulation property can be used to mimic a simple integrate and fire neuron. Thus by combining both a phase change cell operating in the accumulative regime for the neural body and a phase change cell in the multilevel regime for the synaptic weighting an artificial neuromorphic system can be obtained. This may open a new route for the realization of phase change based cognitive computers. This thesis also examines the relaxation oscillations observed under suitable bias conditions in phase change devices. The results presented are performed through a circuit analysis in addition with a generation and recombination mechanism driven by the electric field and carrier densities. To correctly model the oscillations we show that it is necessary to include a parasitic inductance. Related to the electrical states of phase change materials and devices is the threshold switching of the amorphous phase at high electric fields and recent work has suggested that such threshold switching is the result of field-induced nucleation. An electric field induced nucleation mechanism is incorporated into the GCA approach by adding electric field dependence to the free energy of the system. Using results for a continuous phase change thin films and PCRAM devices we show that a purely electronic explanation of threshold switching, rather than field-induced nucleation, provides threshold fields closer to experimentally measured values.

A novel method of synthesizing and controlling the size of germanium nanocrystals was developed. A tri-layer structure comprising of a thin (~5nm) SiO₂ layer grown using rapid thermal oxidation (RTO), followed by a layer of Ge+SiO₂ of varying thickness (6 - 20 nm) deposited using the radio frequency (r.f.) co-sputtering technique and a SiO₂ cap layer (50nm) deposited using r.f. sputtering, was investigated. It was verified using TEM that germanium nanocrystals of sizes ranging from 6 – 20 nm were successfully fabricated after thermal annealing of the tri-layer structure under suitable conditions. The nanocrystals were found to be well confined by the RTO SiO₂ and the cap SiO₂ under specific annealing conditions. The electrical properties of the tri-layer structure have been characterized using MOS capacitor test devices. A significant hysteresis can be observed from the C-V measurements and this suggests the charge storage capability of the nanocrystals. The proposed technique has the potential for fabricating memory devices with controllable nanocrystals sizes. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of organic molecular glasses and solution processable materials embedded between two electrodes were studied to find materials possessing high charge-carrier mobilities and to design organic memory devices. The comparison studies between TOF, FET and SCLC measurements confirm the validity of using analyses of I-V characteristics to determine the mobility of organic semiconductors. Hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatives tri-substituted by electron withdrawing groups were characterized as potential electron transporting molecular glasses. The presence of two isomers has important implications for film morphology and effective mobility. The statistical isomer mixture of hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatized with pentafluoro-phenylmethyl ester is able to form amorphous films, and electron mobilities with the range of 10 E cm2/Vs are observed in their I-V characteristics. Single-layer organic memory devices consisting of a polymer layer embedded between an Al electrode and ITO modified with Ag nanodots (Ag-NDs) prepared by a solution-based surface assembly demonstrated a potential capability as nonvolatile organic memory device with high ON/OFF switching ratios of 104. This level of performance could be achieved by modifying the ITO electrodes with some Ag-NDs that act as trapping sites, reducing the current in the OFF state. Based upon the observed electrical characteristics, the currents of the low-resistance state can be attributed to a tunneling through low-resistance pathways of metal particles originating from the metal top electrode in the organic layer and that the high-resistance state is controlled by charge trapping by the metal particles including Ag-NDs. In an alternative approach, complex films of AgNO3: hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatives were studied as the active layers for all-solution processed and air-stable organic memory devices. Rewritable memory effects were observed in the devices comprised of a thin polymer dielectric layer deposited on the bottom electrode, the complex film, and a conducting polymer film as the top electrode. The electrical characteristics indicate that the accumulation of Ag+ ions at the interface of the complex film and the top electrode may contribute to the switching effect.

Dynamic memory management required by allocation-intensive (i.e., Object Oriented and linked data structured) applications has led to a large number of research trends. Memory performance due to the cache misses in these applications continues to lag in terms of execution cycles as ever increasing CPU-Memory speed gap continues to grow. Sophisticated prefetcing techniques, data relocations, and multithreaded architectures have tried to address memory latency. These techniques are not completely successful since they require either extra hardware/software in the system or special properties in the applications. Software needed for prefetching and data relocation strategies, aimed to improve cache performance, pollutes the cache so that the technique itself becomes counter-productive. On the other hand, extra hardware complexity needed in multithreaded architectures decelerates CPU's clock, since "Simpler is Faster." This dissertation, directed to seek the cause of poor locality behavior of allocation--intensive applications, studies allocators and their impact on the cache performance of these applications. Our study concludes that service functions, in general, and memory management functions, in particular, entangle with application's code and become the major cause of cache pollution. In this dissertation, we present a novel technique that transfers the allocation and de-allocation functions entirely to a separate processor residing in chip with DRAM (Intelligent Memory Manager). Our empirical results show that, on average, 60% of the cache misses caused by allocation and de-allocation service functions are eliminated using our technique.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.78-80).

Cette thèse porte sur la compréhension des mécanismes de forming dans les mémoires à pont conducteur (CBRAM) à base d’oxydes métalliques. Pour cela nous avons admis que l’empilement mémoire est une cellule électrochimique à l’échelle du nanomètre et considéré que les principaux mécanismes de forming sont basés sur des effets électrochimiques. Nous avons débuté nos études à partir d’un couple de référence CuxTey/Oxyde, analysé par HAXPES et ToF-SIMS avant et après l’electro-forming, dans le but d’observer les diffusions et les modifications de l’environnement chimique durant le forming. Ensuite, la couche fournissant les ions, basée sur un alliage CuxTey, ainsi que le diélectrique (Ta2O5, GdOx, or Al2O3) ont été modifiés étape par étape. Les résultats de leurs analyses ont été comparés avec ceux de l’empilement de référence dans le but de comprendre le rôle de chaque couche et des éléments présents dans l’empilement.Nous avons vu que les propriétés du diélectrique, telles que la force des liaisons métal-oxygène, l’hygroscopicité, ou l’éventuelle présence de défauts comme les lacunes d’oxygène, peuvent favoriser un comportement mémoire plutôt OXRAM, CBRAM ou hybride OXRAM/CBRAM. De plus, quand le cuivre diffuse durant le forming, une contre diffusion d’oxygène apparaît également dans le diélectrique. Ensuite, la présence de tellure dans la couche fournissant les ions est nécessaire pour permettre l’effacement de la mémoire, car il permet la re-dissolution du filament de cuivre dans la couche fournissant les ions. Nous avons également vu que le germanium amorphise l’alliage de CuxTeyGez et donc permet son intégration tout en le protégeant de l’oxydation. De plus, il est possible de remplacer le germanium par du zirconium, réduisant ainsi le diélectrique, ce qui facilite le forming. / This thesis focuses on the understanding of forming mechanisms in oxide-based conductive bridge memories (CBRAM), based on metallic oxides. For this purpose, we compared the memory stack to an electrochemical cell at nanometer scale and consider that the main mechanisms occurring in the memory rely on electrochemical effects. We started our studies from a reference couple CuxTey/Oxide, analyzed by HAXPES and ToF-SIMS before and after electro-forming, in order to observe the diffusions and the modifications of the chemical environment occurring during forming. Then, the ion source layer based on CuxTey alloy and the dielectric (Ta2O5, GdOx or Al2O3) were sequentially modified and results of their analyses were compared to the reference stack, in order to understand the role of each layer and chemical elements present in the memory stack.We evidenced that the properties of the dielectric, such as the strength of its oxygen-metal bonds, its hygroscopicity or the eventual presence of defects such as oxygen vacancies, can promote a given memory behavior from OXRAM to CBRAM or hybrid OXRAM/CBRAM behavior. Moreover, when copper diffuses during the forming, an oxygen counter diffusion also takes place in the dielectric. Also, the presence of tellurium in the ion source layer is required to reset the memory as it enables the dissolution of the copper filament in the ion source layer. We also show that germanium amorphizes the CuxTeyGez alloy, thus enables its integration, and protects it from oxidation. Moreover, it is possible to substitute germanium by zirconium resulting in the dielectric reduction, which eases the forming.

In this Licentiate Thesis, the properties and effects of iron and iron oxide filled carbon nanotube (Fe-CNT) memories are investigated using experimental characterization and quantum physical theoretical models. Memory devices based on the simple assembly of Fe-CNTs between two metallic contacts are presented as a possible application involving the resistive switching phenomena of this material. It is known that the electrical conductivity of these nanotubes changes significantly when the materials are exposed to different atmospheric conditions. In this work, the electrical properties of Fe-CNTs and potential applications as a composite material with a semiconducting polymer matrix are investigated. The current voltage characteristics are directly related to the iron oxide that fills the nanotubes, and the effects are strongly dependent on the applied voltage history. Devices made of Fe-CNTs can thereby be designed fo gas sensors and electric memory technologies. The electrical characterization of the Fe-CNT devices shows that the devices work with an operation ratio (ON/OFF) of 5 μA. The applied operating voltage sequence is -10 V (to write), +8 V (to read ON), +10 V (to erase) and +8 V (to read OFF) monitoring the electrical current. This operation voltage (reading ON/OFF) must be sufficiently higher than the voltage at which the current peak appears; in most cases the peak position is close to 5 V. The memory effect is based on the switching behavior of the material, and this new feature for technological applications such as resistance random access memory (ReRAM). In order to better understand the memory effect in the Fe-CNTs, thesis also presents a study of the surface charge configuration during the operation of the memory devices. Here, Raman scattering analysis is combined with electrical measurements. To identify the material electronic state over a wide range of applied voltage, the Raman spectra are recorded during the device operation and the main Raman active modes of the carbon nanotubes are studied. The applied voltage on the carbon nanotube G-band indicates the presence of Kohn anomalies, which are strongly related to the material’s electronic state. As expected, the same behavior was shown by the other carbon nanotube main modes. The ratio between the D- and G-band intensities (ID/IG) is proposed to be an indicative of the operation’s reproducibility regarding a carbon nanotube memory cell. Moreover, the thermal/electrical characterization indicates the existence of two main hopping charge transports, one between the carbon nanotube walls and the other between the filling and the carbon nanotube. The combination of the hopping processes with the possible iron oxide oxygen migration is suggested as the mechanism for a bipolar resistive switching in this material. Based on these studies, it is found that the iron oxide which fills the carbon nanotube, is a major contribution to the memory effect in the material. Therefore, a theoretical study of hematite (i.e., α-Fe2O3) is performed. Here, the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) configurations of α-Fe2O3 are analyzed by means of an atomistic first-principles method within the density functional theory. The interaction potential is described by the local spin density approximation (LSDA) with an on-site Coulomb correction of the Fe d-orbitals according to the LSDA+U method. Several calculations on hematite compounds with high and low concentrations of native defects such as oxygen vacancies, oxygen interstitials, and hydrogen interstitials are studied. The crystalline structure, the atomic-resolved density-of-states (DOS), as well as the magnetic properties of these structures are determined. The theoretical results are compared to earlier published LSDA studies and show that the Coulomb correction within the LSDA+U method improves both the calculated energy gaps and the local magnetic moment. Compared to the regular LSDA calculations, the LSDA+U method yields a slightly smaller unit-cell volume and a 25% increase of the local magnetic for the most stable AFM phase. This is important to consider when investigating the native defects in the compound. The effect is explained by better localization of the energetically lower Fe d-states in the LSDA+U calculations. Interestingly, due to the localization of the d-states the intrinsic α-Fe2O3 is demonstrated to become an AFM insulator when the LSDA+U method is considered. Using the LSDA+U approach, native defects are analyzed. The oxygen vacancies are observed to have a local effect on the DOS due to the electron doping. The oxygen and hydrogen interstitials influence the band-gap energies of the AFM structures. Significant changes are observed in the ground-state energy and also in the magnetization around the defects; this is correlated to Hund’s rules. The presence of the native defects (i.e., vacancies, interstitial oxygen and interstitial hydrogen) in the α-Fe2O3 structures changes the Fe–O and Fe–Fe bonds close to the defects, implying a reduction of the energy gap as well as the local magnetization. The interstitial oxygen strongly stabilizes the AFM phase, also decreases the band-gap energy without forming any defect states in the band-gap region. / <p>QC 20131107</p>

付記する学位プログラム名: 京都大学卓越大学院プログラム「先端光・電子デバイス創成学」 / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第24622号 / 工博第5128号 / 新制||工||1980(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科電子工学専攻 / (主査)教授 木本 恒暢, 教授 白石 誠司, 准教授 小林 圭 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM