Investigation of electrical and compositional properties of SiO2/Au/SiO2 for nonvolatile memory application

In this work, the effects of annealing temperature on the compositional, morphological and electrical properties of SiO2/Au/SiO2 trilayer structure are investigated. SiO2 and Au layers were deposited using RF magnetron sputtering and e-beam evaporation techniques, respectively. Transmission electron microscopic images reveal the formation of Au nanocrystals. Atomic force micrographs show the variation in surface roughness with annealing temperature. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy was employed to estimate the thickness of the trilayer structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate the formation of Au nanocrystal and SiO2 tunneling and blocking layers. The hysteresis curve indicates the role of Au nanocrystals in charge storage characteristics of the device structure.