Performance Improvement of SONOS Memory by Bandgap Engineering of Charge-Trapping Layer
2004; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Volume: 25; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1109/led.2004.825163
ISSN1558-0563
AutoresT.-S. Chen, K. H. Wu, Hsien-Ching Chung, Chien‐Ting Kao,
Tópico(s)Integrated Circuits and Semiconductor Failure Analysis
ResumoA significant improvement in device performance and reliability characteristics of silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) Flash memory has been achieved. Superior endurance characteristic shows no sign of degradation even after 10/sup 6/ program/erase cycles and an extrapolated ten-year detection window of 1.4 V has been attained from retention measurement. The dramatic improvement results from a bandgap engineering of the SiN charge-trapping layer. With a gradual variation of the Si/N ratio from bottom to top of nitride film rather than uniform standard composition, a large number of highly accessible trapping levels are created in addition to the deepened barrier height between nitride and tunnel oxide that reduces back-tunneling probability. The proposed technique shall be valuable in pushing Flash memory technology into the next generation.
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