Copper nanoparticles embedded in a polyimide film for non-volatile memory applications

• Main Authors: Gupta, Raju Kumar, Kusuma, Damar Yoga, Lee, P. S., Srinivasan, M. P.
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96570; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17270
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The charge storage and retention characteristics of a nanoparticle-laden thin polyimide film were investigated for application in non-volatile memory devices. Well-dispersed and uniform sized metallic copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were formed as embedded entities within the confines of polyimide film that was cast from solution. The nanoparticle-containing films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force and scanning electron microscopies. Capacitance–voltage measurements showed that the embedded CuNPs functioned as a floating gate in metal–insulator–semiconductor-type capacitor and exhibited a large hysteresis window of 1.52 V. C–t measurements conducted after applying a charging bias of 5 V showed that the charge was retained beyond 20,000 s. The technique holds promise for developing low-cost processes for memory devices that employ relatively inexpensive materials, and yet demonstrate very good performance.