A New Electron Bridge Channel 1T-DRAM Employing Underlap Region Charge Storage

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a new type of silicon-based capacitorless one-transistor dynamic random access memory (1T-DRAM) with an electron-bridge channel. The fabrication steps are fully compatible with modern CMOS technology. An underlap device structure is exploited and positive charges are primarily stored in drain-side and source-side p-type pseudo-neutral regions under the oxide spacer. These regions are isolated by the gate/drain or gate/source depletion regions during programming and read '1' operations which facilitates the device to achieve a 4-second-long retention time at room temperature. The carrier mobility of the electron-bridge 1T-DRAM also exhibits reduced dependence on temperature, thereby the programming window remains viable at high temperatures, while also maintaining 26% of the retention performance at 358 K. The benefits of the planar cell enable the realization of a scalable vertical channel structure. © 2013 IEEE.