Microscopic aspects of the variations in the retention times of dynamic random access memory

The authors have examined the retention time of memory bits. Silicon dangling bond defects are shown to be consistent with retention time observations. Interactions between hydrogen and silicon dangling bond defect complexes are calculated for several model cases using first-principles density functional theory. Variable retention time is explained in terms of hydrogen interacting with a silicon dangling bond defect at the Si-Si O2 interface.