El-Atab, N.Ulusoy, T. G.Ghobadi, A.Suh, J.Islam, R.Okyay, Ali KemalSaraswat, K.Nayfeh, A.2018-04-122018-04-1220170957-4484http://hdl.handle.net/11693/37171The manipulation of matter at the nanoscale enables the generation of properties in a material that would otherwise be challenging or impossible to realize in the bulk state. Here, we demonstrate growth of zirconia nano-islands using atomic layer deposition on different substrate terminations. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman measurements indicate that the nano-islands consist of nano-crystallites of the cubic-crystalline phase, which results in a higher dielectric constant (κ ∼ 35) than the amorphous phase case (κ ∼ 20). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements show that a deep quantum well is formed in the Al2O3/ZrO2/Al2O3 system, which is substantially different to that in the bulk state of zirconia and is more favorable for memory application. Finally, a memory device with a ZrO2 nano-island charge-trapping layer is fabricated, and a wide memory window of 4.5 V is obtained at a low programming voltage of 5 V due to the large dielectric constant of the islands in addition to excellent endurance and retention characteristics.EnglishAtomic layer depositionMemory devicesZirconiaAtomic layer depositionAtomsCharge trappingData storage equipmentDepositionHigh resolution transmission electron microscopyNonvolatile storageQuantum theorySemiconductor quantum wellsTransmission electron microscopyZirconiaZirconium compoundsCharge trapping layersDifferent substratesLarge dielectric constantMemory applicationsNonvolatile memory devicesProgramming voltageRaman measurementsRetention characteristicsX ray photoelectron spectroscopyArticle10.1088/1361-6528/aa87e51361-6528