Suspended Gate Silicon Nanodot Memory

The co-integration of two dissimilar technologies such as Nano-Electromechanical Systems (NEMS) with the well known metal-oxide-technology (MOS) have helped to develop a new set of emerging devices known as hybrid devices. Among them, non-volatile memories are playing a key role for the replacement of the current flash memory. A promise candidate to surpass Flash memory issues is the Suspended Gate Silicon Nanodot Memory (SGSNM). This memory features a MOSFET as a readout element, a silicon nanodot monolayer as the floating gate (FG) and a movable suspended control gate (SG) that is isolated from FG by an air-gap and a thin tunnel oxide layer. Advantages that the SGSNM has over flash memory includes high-speed for programming & erasing operations, virtually no gate leakage current due to the SG is in contact only for the programming and erasing processes otherwise is isolated and its fully compatibility with the well known Si-based technology, that makes an affordable device for the nowadays semiconductor industry.