Multilevel charging and discharging mechanisms of vertically stacked Ni1−xFex self-assembled nanoparticle arrays embedded in polyimide layers

Abstract

Capacitance-voltage curves for the Al/polyimide (PI)/multilayered Ni1−xFex nanoparticle array/PI/p-Si (100) devices at 300K showed that the flatband voltage shift of the metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor was affected by the value of sweep voltage, indicative of the variations in the charged electron number in the multiple-stacked Ni1−xFex nanoparticle arrays in the floating gate. Current-voltage results showed that the electron charging and discharging in the Ni1−xFex nanoparticles were attributed to thermionic emission and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, respectively. The multilevel charging and discharging mechanisms of vertically stacked Ni1−xFex self-assembled nanoparticle arrays embedded in PI layers are described on the basis of the experimental results.