Nanoscale Potential Fluctuations in Zirconium Oxide and the Flash Memory Based on Such Fluctuations

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, EXAFS, XANES, spectral ellipsometry and quantum-chemistry calculations were used to examine the atomic and electronic structure of non-stoichiometric amorphous ZrOx slightly enriched with zirconium. The experimental data show that the ZrOx material consists of stoichiometric ZrO2, metallic Zr and zirconium suboxides ZrOy. The structure of ZrOx is analyzed using the Random Bonding and Random Mixture models. A model of nanoscale spatial potential fluctuations in ZrOx is substantiated. In this model, the potential fluctuations for electrons and holes arise due to the local fluctuations of bandgap energy in the range from 0 to 5.4 eV. A ZrOx-based flash memory element with giant retention time is proposed