Nano-structure memory device
US5714766A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 29, 1995 |
| Grant date | Feb 3, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 29, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S438/962
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A memory device and memory incorporating a plurality of the memory devices is described wherein each memory device has spaced apart source and drain regions, a channel, a barrier insulating layer, a nanocrystal or a plurality of nanocrystals, a control barrier layer, and a gate electrode. The nanocrystal which may be a quantum dot, stores one electron or hole or a discrete number of electrons or holes at room temperature to provide threshold voltage shifts in excess of the thermal voltage for each change in an electron or a hole stored. The invention utilizes Coulomb blockade in electrostatically coupling one or more stored electrons or holes to a channel while avoiding in-path Coulomb-blockade controlled conduction for sensing the stored charge.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.