Improved performance of yttrium-doped Al 2O 3 as inter-poly dielectric for flash-memory applications

Yttrium-doped Al 2O 3Y xAl yO) with different yttrium contents prepared by co-sputtering method is investigated as the inter-poly dielectric (IPD) for flash memory applications. A poor SiO 2-like interlayer formed at the IPD/Si interface is confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and can be suppressed by Y doping through the transformation of silica into silicate. Compared with Al 2O 3 and Y 2O 3 films, the optimized Y xAl yO film shows lower interface-state density, lower bulk charge-trapping density, higher dielectric constant, and smaller gate leakage, due to the suppressed interlayer and good thermal property ascribed to appropriate Y and Al contents in the film. Therefore, the optimized Y xAl yO film is a promising candidate as the IPD for flash memory. © 2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Nitrided SrTiO 3 as charge-trapping layer for nonvolatile memory applications

Charge-trapping characteristics of SrTiO 3 with and without nitrogen incorporation were investigated based on Al/ Al 2 O 3/SrTiO 3/SiO 2 /Si (MONOS) capacitors. A Ti-silicate interlayer at the SrTiO 3/SiO 2 interface was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Compared with the MONOS capacitor with SrTiO 3 as charge-trapping layer (CTL), the one with nitrided SrTiO 3 showed a larger memory window (8.4 V at ±10 V sweeping voltage), higher P/E speeds (1.8 V at 1 ms +8 V) and better retention properties (charge loss of 38% after 10 4s), due to the nitrided SrTiO 3 film exhibiting higher dielectric constant, higher deep-level traps induced by nitrogen incorporation, and suppressed formation of Ti silicate between the CTL and SiO 2 by nitrogen passivation. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Improved charge-trapping properties of HfYON film for nonvolatile memory applications in comparison with HfON and Y 2O 3 films

The charge-trapping properties of HfYON film are investigated by using the Al/HfYON/SiO 2/Si structure. The physical features of this film were explored by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The proposed device shows better charge-trapping characteristics than samples with HfON or Y 2O 3 as the charge-trapping layer due to its higher trapping efficiency, as confirmed by extracting their charge-trap centroid and charge-trap density. Moreover, the Al/Al 2O 3/HfYON/SiO 2/Si structure shows high program speed (4.5 V at 14 V, 1 ms), large memory window (6.0 V at 14 V, 1 s), and good retention property, further demonstrating that HfYON is a promising candidate as the charge-trapping layer for nonvolatile memory applications. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Improved performance by using TaON/SiO2 as dual tunnel layer in Charge-Trapping nonvolatile memory

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A novel MONOS memory with high-κ HfLaON as charge-storage layer

MIS capacitors with a high-κ HfLaON or HfLaO gate dielectric are fabricated by using a reactive sputtering method to investigate the applicability of the films as a novel charge-storage layer in a metaloxidenitrideoxidesilicon nonvolatile memory device. Experimental results indicate that the MIS capacitor with a HfLaON gate dielectric exhibits a large memory window, high program/erase speed, excellent endurance property, and reasonable retention. The involved mechanisms for these promising characteristics with HfLaON are thought to be in part from nitrogen incorporation leading to higher density of traps with deeper levels and, thus, higher trapping efficiency, stronger HfN and LaN bonds, and more stable atomic structure and HfLaONSiO 2 interface, as compared to the HfLaO dielectric. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Towards bio monitoring of toxic (lead) and essential elements in whole blood from 1- to72-month old children: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Minerals such as zinc, copper, selenium, calcium, and magnesium are essential for normal human development and functioning of the body. They have been found to play important roles in immuno-physiologic functions. The study is to evaluate the distribution and correlation of nonessential (lead) and essential elements in whole blood from 1- to 72-month old children.Methods: The cross-sectional study was performed in 1551 children. Six element concentrations, including copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe) and lead (Pb) in the blood were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Distributions and correlations of trace elements in different age groups were analyzed and compared. A Pearson correlation controlled for age and gender was used to assess the relationship of non essential (lead) and essential elements.Results: Levels of copper and magnesium were 18.09 ± 4.42 μmol/L and 1.42 ± 0.12 mmol/L, respectively. 6.04% of all children showed copper levels below the normal threshold, the levels of Magnesium were stable in different age groups. Though the overall mean blood zinc and iron concentrations (61.19 ± 11.30 μmol/L and 8.24 ± 0.59 mmol/L, respectively) gradually increased with age and the overall deficiency levels (24.1% and 36.0%, respectively) decreased with age, zinc and iron deficiencies were still very stable. Controlling for gender and age, significant positive correlations were found when comparing copper to zinc, calcium, magnesium, and iron((r = 0.333, 0.241, 0.417, 0.314 ,p < 0.01); zinc to magnesium and iron (r = 0.440, 0.497p < 0.01); and magnesium to Calcium and iron(r = 0.349, 0.645, p < 0.01). The overall mean blood lead levels (41.16 ± 16.10) were relatively unstable among different age groups. The prevalence of lead intoxication in all children was 1.3% .Calcium levels decreased gradually with age, with an overall concentration of 1.78 ± 0.13 mmol/L.Conclusion: Significant negative correlations were also noted between Pb and Zn, Fe (r = -0.179, -0.124.p < 0.01) .The importance of calcium deficiency and supplementation is well realized, but the severity of iron and zinc deficiency is not well recorded. The degree of lead intoxication in all the children studied was low; The established reference intervals for Cu, Zn, Ca and Mg provide an important guidance for the reasonable supplementation of essential elements during different age groups.Keywords: prenatal biomonitoring, copper, zinc, calcium, magnesium, iron, lea

Genetic analysis of farmed and wild stocks of large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea by using microsatellite markers

The large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) is one of the most economically important mariculture fish species in China. In this study, the genetic diversity and relationship among a wild stock, four farmed stocks and a selectively bred strain of large yellow croaker were assessed by 14 microsatellite markers. A total of 108 different alleles were detected over all loci. The average number of allele per locus ranged from 5.57 to 7.93, with an average of 6.75; the observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.572 to 0.665 and from 0.649 to 0.751, with an average of 0.621 and 0.694, respectively; the Shannon’s diversity index ranged from 1.34 to 1.64, with an average of 1.48. The selectively bred strain had the lowest genetic diversity; all farmed stocks showed a slight reduction of genetic variability contrasted with wild stock. All stocks suffered severe bottleneck. The pair-wise FST, the phylogenetic tree, the factor correspondence analysis and the model based clustering analysis revealed that, the Ningbo stock, which was from Zhejiang province, was different from the remaining stocks from Fujian province. This study suggested that (1) the farmed stocks were at relatively low level of genetic diversity compared with the wild stock; (2) samples from Ningbo investigated in this study have a distinct divergence with those from Fujian province; (3) there had emerged significant differentiation among farmed stocks.Key words: Pseudosciaena crocea, large yellow croaker, genetic structure, microsatellite markers

In situ loading and delivery of short single- And double-stranded dna by supramolecular organic frameworks

Short DNA represents an important class of biomacromolecules that are widely applied in gene therapy, editing, and modulation. However, the development of simple and reliable methods for their intracellular delivery remains a challenge. Herein, we describe that seven water-soluble, homogeneous supramolecular organic frameworks (SOFs) with a well-defined pore size and high stability in water that can accomplish in situ inclusion of single-stranded (ss) and double-stranded (ds) DNA (21, 23, and 58 nt) and effective intracellular delivery (including two noncancerous and six cancerous cell lines). Fluorescence quenching experiments for single and double endlabeled ss- and ds-DNA support that the DNA sequences can be completely enveloped by the SOFs. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry reveal that five of the SOFs exhibit excellent delivery efficiencies that, in most of the studied cases, outperform the commercial standard Lipo2000, even at low SOF-nucleic acid ratios. In addition to high delivery efficiencies, the watersoluble, self-assembled SOF carriers have a variety of advantages, including convenient preparation, high stability, and in situ DNA inclusion, which are all critical for practical applications in nucleic acid delivery

A quantitative link between microplastic instability and macroscopic deformation behaviors in metallic glasses

Based on mechanical instability of individual shear transformation zones (STZs), a quantitative link between the microplastic instability and macroscopic deformation behavior of metallic glasses was proposed. Our analysis confirms that macroscopic metallic glasses comprise a statistical distribution of STZ embryos with distributed values of activation energy, and the microplastic instability of all the individual STZs dictates the macroscopic deformation behavior of amorphous solids. The statistical model presented in this paper can successfully reproduce the macroscopic stress-strain curves determined experimentally and readily be used to predict strain-rate effects on the macroscopic responses with the availability of the material parameters at a certain strain rate, which offer new insights into understanding the actual deformation mechanism in amorphous solids. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

A quantitative link between microplastic instability and macroscopic deformation behaviors in metallic glasses

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe