Ultrafast Operation of 2D Heterostructured Nonvolatile Memory Devices Provided by the Strong Short-Time Dielectric Breakdown Strength ofh-BN

Recently, the ultrafast operation (∼20 ns) of a two-dimensional (2D) heterostructured nonvolatile memory (NVM) device was demonstrated, attracting considerable attention. However, there is no consensus on its physical origin. In this study, various 2D NVM device structures are compared. First, we reveal that the hole injection at the metal/MoS2 interface is the speed-limiting path in the NVM device with the access region. Therefore, MoS2 NVM devices with a direct tunneling path between source/drain electrodes and the floating gate are fabricated by removing the access region. Indeed, a 50 ns program/erase operation is successfully achieved for devices with metal source/drain electrodes as well as graphite source/drain electrodes. This controlled experiment proves that an atomically sharp interface is not necessary for ultrafast operation, which is contrary to the previous literature. Finally, the dielectric breakdown strength (EBD) of h-BN under short voltage pulses is examined. Since a high dielectric breakdown strength allows a large tunneling current, ultrafast operations can be achieved. Surprisingly, an EBD = 26.1 MV/cm for h-BN is realized under short voltage pulses, largely exceeding the EBD = ∼12 MV/cm from the direct current (DC) measurement. This suggests that the high EBD of h-BN can be the physical origin of the ultrafast operation.