Recent advances in metal nanoparticle-based floating gate memory

Nonvolatile memory is distinguished for the application in many electronic products due to its excellent charge storage ability. Nevertheless, as the device dimensions are scaled down, floating gate memory encounters various challenges: the increasing leakage current leading to a serious reliability issue and the decreasing of charge density. Hence, metal nanoparticle-based floating gate memory has been proposed and become a promising candidate for nonvolatile memories due to its outstanding operation speed, excellent scalability, and favorable reliability. This review briefly introduces the classification of memory devices. The operation mechanisms, fabrication and characterization of metal nanoparticle-based floating gate memory are discussed based on research activities reported in recent years.