Abstract
This letter demonstrates the shape effect of suspended poly-Si nanowires (NWs) on gate-all-around TFT Flash memory. The NWs are bent into a bimodal shape by process-induced strain. The proposed dual-gate (DG) and single-gate (SG) electrodes are located on the twin peaks and single valley of the bimodal shape of the NWs. The DG structure has better program/erase characteristics and reliability than the SG structure owing to the impact of the bent NWs on the dielectric strength of tunnel oxide. Moreover, incorporation of the hybrid trap layer in the DG device yields a long retention time, with only 17% charge loss over ten years. © 2011 IEEE.