Observation of memory effect in germanium nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous silicon oxide matrix of a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure

The memory effect of a trilayer structure (rapid thermal oxide/Ge nanocrystals in SiO2/sputtered SiO2) was investigated via capacitance versus voltage (C-V) measurements. The Ge nanocrystals were synthesized by rapid thermal annealing of the cosputtered Ge+SiO2 films. The memory effect was manifested by the hysteresis in the C-V curve. Transmission electron microscope and C-V results indicated that the hysteresis was due to Ge nanocrystals in the middle layer of the trilayer structure. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.