Tunnel injection is a field electron emission effect; specifically a quantum process called Fowler–Nordheim tunneling, whereby charge carriers are injected to an electric conductor through a thin layer of an electric insulator.[1]

It is used to program NAND flash memory. The process used for erasing is called tunnel release. This injection is achieved by creating a large voltage difference between the gate and the body of the MOSFET. When VGB >> 0, electrons are injected into the floating gate. When VGB << 0, electrons are forced out of the floating gate.

An alternative to tunnel injection is the spin injection.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lorke, Michael; Khanonkin, Igor; Michael, Stephan; Reithmaier, Johann Peter; Eisenstein, Gadi; Jahnke, Frank (2022-09-05). "Carrier dynamics in quantum-dot tunnel-injection structures: microscopic theory and experiment". Applied Physics Letters. 121 (10): 103503. arXiv:2205.15715. doi:10.1063/5.0101613. ISSN 0003-6951.