Non-volatile memory and switching device.

摘要

@ A non-volatile semiconductor memory and switching device employing a Schottky barrier junction (7/3) and a dual layered dielectric system (9, 11) for entrapping charges adjacent thereto. The dual layered dielectric system typically comprises a layer of nitride on a layer of oxide arranged such that trapped charges within the oxide and at the nitride-oxide interface act to alter the depletion region beneath, and in the vicinity of, the Schottky contact. Trapped charges may be made to selectively modify the Schottky barrier depletion region and vary its conductivity characteristics between a diode characteristic (OFF) at one extreme and ohmic contact (ON) at the other, all in accordance with the magnitude and sign of the trapped charges.