Glancing angle fabricated Au/ZrO2 nanoparticles based device for non-volatile capacitive memory application

The effect of structural modulations on non-volatile capacitive memory devices is reported in this paper. The synthesis of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) thin film (TF) was done using an electron beam evaporation technique. The glancing angle deposition (GLAD) was used to create ZrO2 nanoparticles (NP) inside an electron beam evaporator. The formation of ZrO2 TF and ZrO2 NP over the silicon (Si) substrate is perceptible using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The incorporation of ZrO2 NP leads to an increase in absorptions (ultra-violet/UV: 5.4 fold and visible: 7.2 fold) and a decrease in corresponding bandgaps due to the oxygen-related vacancies. Gold (Au) electrodes were deposited to fabricate the two distinct devices viz., Au/ZrO2 TF and Au/ZrO2 NP. The modulation in leakage current (I-I) of 0.28 x 10(-1) A at + 5.2 V, an increment of frequency dispersion (f(d)) of 1.6 nF, a maximum conductance (G(mmax)) value of 7.9 mu S, and a higher interface trap state density (D-it) value of 56.30 x 10(12) cm(-1) eV(-1) was attributed the addition of oxygen vacancy related defect states in the Au/ZrO2 NP than the Au/ZrO2 TF based devices. The Au/ZrO2 NP based device shows a high capacitive memory window of 3.53 V at +/- 8 V, higher charge storage capability, good endurance as well as good retention properties due to the efficient charge trapping phenomenon. All findings establish a superior and scalable platform for next-generation non-volatile memory applications.