1. A system for writing data to a storage medium, the system comprising:
interface circuitry configured to interface with a stripe of the storage medium via one or more data transfer channels, the stripe comprising a plurality of pages of the storage medium;
partition circuitry configured to receive a data stream and partition the data stream into a plurality of allocation units (AUs), each AU in the plurality of AUs having a same pre-determined byte length; and
write circuitry configured to write a first portion of a selected AU from the plurality of AUs to a first page of the plurality of pages and a second portion of the selected AU to a second page of the plurality of pages by consecutively writing bytes of the selected AU from a starting byte on the first page to an ending byte on the second page.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the write circuitry is configured to write the plurality of AUs to the stripe based on an ordered sequence of the pages.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the write circuitry comprises a write buffer and wherein the write circuitry is configured to write to the storage medium after an amount of data equal to a length of the stripe accumulates in the write buffer.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pages are located on a plurality of storage devices.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the write circuitry is configured to access a first of the plurality of pages using a first of the one or more data transfer channels and access a second of the plurality of pages using a second of the one or more data transfer channels.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein each AU in the plurality of AUs is associated with at most two data transfer channels from the one or more data transfer channels, and wherein the two data transfer channels are adjacent.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising collection circuitry configured to:
read data stored in the storage medium;
detect bytes among the read data that are not written to; and
rewrite the read data to the storage medium, wherein the rewriting writes over the unwritten bytes.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising error correction (ECC) circuitry configured to:
read data stored in the stripe of the storage medium; and
calculate an error correction sequence corresponding to the read data.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the write circuitry is configured to:
receive the error correction sequence; and
write the error correction sequence to a last page of the stripe of the storage medium.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the write circuitry is configured to write the plurality of AUs to a first portion of the stripe while leaving a second portion of the stripe unwritten to.
11. A method for writing data to a storage medium, the method comprising:
interfacing with a stripe of the storage medium via one or more data transfer channels, the stripe comprising a plurality of pages of the storage medium;
receiving a data stream and partitioning the data stream into a plurality of allocation units (AUs), each AU in the plurality of AUs having a same pre-determined byte length; and
writing a first portion of a selected AU from the plurality of AUs to a first page of the plurality of pages and a second portion of the selected AU to a second page of the plurality of pages by consecutively writing bytes of the selected AU from a starting byte on the first page to an ending byte on the second page.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising writing the plurality of AUs to the stripe based on an ordered sequence of the pages.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising writing the storage medium in response to a determination that an amount of data equal to a length of the stripe accumulates in a write buffer.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of pages are located on a plurality of storage devices.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising accessing a first of the plurality of pages using a first of the one or more data transfer channels and accessing a second of the plurality of pages using a second of the one or more data transfer channels.
16. The method of claim 11, wherein each AU in the plurality of AUs is associated with at most two data transfer channels from the one or more data transfer channels, and wherein the two data transfer channels are adjacent.
17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
reading data stored in the storage medium;
detecting bytes among the read data that are not written to; and
rewriting the read data to the storage medium, wherein the rewriting writes over the unwritten bytes.
18. The method of claim 11, further comprising: reading data stored in the stripe of the storage medium; and
calculating an error correction sequence corresponding to the read data.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
receiving the error correction sequence; and
writing the error correction sequence to a last page of the stripe of the storage medium.
20. The method of claim 11, further comprising writing the plurality of AUs to a first portion of the stripe while leaving a second portion of the stripe unwritten to.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A material stack comprising
a hafnium-based dielectric;
a rare earth-containing layer located atop of, or within, said hafnium-based dielectric;
an electrically conducting capping layer located above said hafnium-based dielectric; and
a Si-containing conductor.
2. The material stack of claim 1 further comprising a chemox layer located beneath said Hf-based dielectric.
3. The material stack of claim 1 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide, hafnium silicate, hafnium silicon oxynitride, a mixture of hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide or multilayers thereof.
4. The material stack of claim 3 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide.
5. The material stack of claim 1 wherein said rare earth metal-containing layer comprises an oxide or nitride of at least one element from Group IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
6. The material stack of claim 5 wherein said Group IIIB element is one of La, Ce, Y, Sm, Er or Tb.
7. The material stack of claim 6 wherein said Group IIIB element is La and said rare earth metal-containing layer is La2O3 or LaN.
8. The material stack of claim 1 wherein said electrically conductive capping layer comprises a metal nitride or metal silicon nitride, wherein said metal is from Group IVB or VB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
9. The material stack of claim 8 wherein said electrically conductive capping layer comprises TiN, TaN, a ternary alloy of Ti\u2014La\u2014N, a ternary alloy of Ta\u2014La\u2014N or a stack with a ternary alloy of Ti\u2014La\u2014N or Ta\u2014La\u2014N wherein said rare earth metal-containing layer is present in said electrically conductive capping layer.
10. The material stack of claim 1 comprising an optional chemox layer, HfO2 or Hf silicate as said Hf-based dielectric, a metal nitride layer including at least one rare earth metal or rare earth-like material, and polySi as the Si-containing gate conductor, wherein said metal nitride layer is used as both said rare earth-containing layer and said electrically conducting capping layer.
11. The material stack of claim 10 wherein said rare earth metal or rare earth-like metal comprises at least one element from Group IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
12. The material stack of claim 1 comprising optionally a SiO2 chemox layer, HfO2 or Hf silicate as said Hf-based dielectric, a La containing material as the rare earth metal-containing layer, TiN as the electrically conductive capping layer, and n-doped Si as the Si-containing conductor.
13. A material stack comprising:
a hafnium-based dielectric containing a concentration gradient of a rare earth metal located atop of, or within, said hafnium-based dielectric;
an electrically conductive capping layer located above said hafnium-based dielectric; and
a Si-containing conductor.
14. The material stack of claim 13 further comprising a chemox layer located beneath said Hf-based dielectric.
15. The material stack of claim 13 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide, hafnium silicate, hafnium silicon oxynitride, a mixture of hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide or multilayers thereof.
16. The material stack of claim 15 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide.
17. The material stack of claim 13 wherein said rare earth metal-containing layer comprises an oxide or nitride of at least one element from Group IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
18. The material stack of claim 17 wherein said Group IIIB element is one of La, Ce, Y, Sm, Er or Tb.
19. The material stack of claim 18 wherein said Group IIIB element is La and said rare earth metal-containing layer is La2O3 or LaN.
20. The material stack of claim 13 wherein said electrically conductive capping layer comprises a metal nitride or metal silicon nitride, wherein said metal is from Group IVB or VB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
21. The material stack of claim 13 comprising an optional chemox layer, HfO2 or Hf silicate as said Hf-based dielectric, a metal nitride layer including at least one rare earth metal or rare earth-like metal, and polySi as the Si-containing gate conductor, wherein said metal nitride layer is used as both said rare earth-containing layer and said electrically conducting capping layer, and said rare earth metal or rare earth-like material comprises at least one element from Group IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
22. The material stack of claim 13 comprising optionally a SiO2 chemox layer, HfO2 or Hf silicate as said Hf-based dielectric, a La containing material as the rare earth metal-containing layer, TiN as the electrically conductive capping layer, and n-doped Si as the Si-containing conductor.
23. A material stack comprising:
a hafnium-based dielectric containing foreign atoms having a valence and electronegativity different from hafnium located atop of, or within, said hafnium-based dielectric;
an electrically capping layer located above said hafnium-based dielectric; and
a Si-containing conductor.
24. The material stack of claim 23 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide, hafnium silicate, hafnium silicon oxynitride, a mixture of hafnium oxide and zirconium oxide or multilayers thereof.
25. The material stack of claim 24 wherein said Hf-based dielectric comprises hafnium oxide.
26. The material stack of claim 23 wherein said foreign atoms comprise a rare earth metal from Group IIIB of the Periodic Table of Elements.
27. The material stack of claim 26 wherein said Group IIIB element is one of La, Ce, Y, Sm, Er or Tb.
28. The material stack of claim 27 wherein said Group IIIB element is La.
29. A semiconductor structure comprising
a patterned material stack located on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, said patterned material stack comprising a hafnium-based dielectric; a rare earth-containing layer located on atop of, or within, said hafnium-based dielectric; an electrically conductive capping layer located above said hafnium-based dielectric; and a Si-containing conductor.
30. A material stack comprising:
a dielectric material having a dielectric constant of greater than about 4.0;
a rare earth-containing layer located atop of, or within, said dielectric material;
an electrically conducting capping layer located above said dielectric material; and
a Si-containing conductor.