Abstract
The Co x Ni y O hybrid metal oxide nanoparticles (HMONs) embedded in the HfO x N y high-k dielectric as charge trapping nodes of the nonvolatile memory devices have been formed via the chemical vapor deposition using the Co/Ni acetate calcined and reduced in the Ar/NH 3 ambient. A charge trap density of 8.96 × 10 11 cm -2 and a flatband voltage shift of 500 mV were estimated by the appearance of the hysteresis in the capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements during the ±5 V sweep. Scanning electron microscopy image displays that the Co x Ni y O HMONs with a diameter of ∼10-20 nm and a surface density of ∼1 × 10 10 cm -2 were obtained. The mechanism related to the writing characteristics are mainly resulted from the holes trapping. Compared with those devices with the Co x Ni y O HMONs formed by the dip-coated technique, memory devices with the Co x Ni y O HMONs fabricated by the drop-coated technique show improved surface properties between the Co x Ni y O HMONs and the HfON as well as electrical characteristics. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.