[paper] Ge Twin-Transistor NVM with FinFET Structure

Siao-Cheng Yan, Chong-Jhe Sun, Meng-Ju Tsai (Student Member, Ieee), Lun-Chun Chen,

Mu-Shih Yeh (Member, IEEE), Chien-Chang Li, Yao-Jen Lee and Yung-Chun Wu (Member, IEEE)

Germanium Twin-Transistor Nonvolatile Memory with FinFET Structure

IEEE J-EDS vol. 8, pp. 589-593, 2020

DOI: 10.1109/JEDS.2020.2999616

Abstract: Germanium is a promising alternative material for use in advanced technology nodes because it exhibits symmetrical mobility of holes and electrons. Embedded nonvolatile memory (NVM) is essential in electronic devices with integrated circuit (IC) technology, including future Ge-based technology. In this paper, we demonstrate Ge twin-transistor NVM with a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) structure. This Ge twin-transistor NVM exhibits high programming and erasing speeds and satisfactory reliability. Moreover, the masks and fabrication process of this Ge twin-transistor NVM are identical to those of Ge-channel FinFETs. Thus, Ge twin-transistor NVM is a promising candidate for embedded NVM applications in future high-performance Ge complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology (CMOS).

FIG:  (a) Schematic top view of the Ge Twin NVM with one fin,

and (b) process flow of the Ge Twin NVM

Acknowledgements: This work was supported in part by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under contract MOST 108-2221-E-007-003, and in part by Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, Taiwan.