Abstract – Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures with a nanocrystal carbon (nc-C) embedded in SiO2 thin films were fabricated using a focused ion beam (FIB) system with a precursor of low-energy Ga+ ion and carbon source. The crystallinity of nc-C was investigated by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Raman spectra indicate the evidence of crystallization of nc-C after annealed at 600˚C by the sharp peak at 1565 cm-1 in graphite (sp2), while no peak of diamond (sp3) could be seen at 1333 cm-1. The AFM images showed the nc-C dots controlled with diameter of 100 nm, 200 nm and 300 nm, respectively. The above results revealed that the nc-C dots had sufficiently stuck onto SiO2 films. The hysterisis loop in the capacitance–voltage characteristics appeared in the MIS device with SiO2/nc-C/SiO2 structure in which voltage shift is 0.32 V for radical oxidation and 0.14 V for dry oxidation, respectively.

Keywords – Carbon; Nanocrystal; Memory device; Focused ion beam; Raman spectroscopy; Atomic force microscopy

Corresponding Author: Ruslinda Abdul Rahim
Corresponding Author’s Email: ruslinda@unimap.edu.my

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