中国物理B ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (1): 18502-018502.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/26/1/018502

• INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Random telegraph noise on the threshold voltage of multi-level flash memory

Yiming Liao(廖轶明), Xiaoli Ji(纪小丽), Yue Xu(徐跃), Chengxu Zhang(张城绪), Qiang Guo(郭强), Feng Yan(闫锋)   

  1. 1. College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    2. Quality and Reliability Engineering, Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Wuhan, China;
    3. College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003, China
  • 收稿日期:2016-08-29 修回日期:2016-09-26 出版日期:2017-01-05 发布日期:2017-01-05
  • 通讯作者: Xiaoli Ji E-mail:xji@nju.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Research Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB0400402), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20141321), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61627804).

Random telegraph noise on the threshold voltage of multi-level flash memory

Yiming Liao(廖轶明)1, Xiaoli Ji(纪小丽)1, Yue Xu(徐跃)3, Chengxu Zhang(张城绪)1, Qiang Guo(郭强)2, Feng Yan(闫锋)1   

  1. 1. College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    2. Quality and Reliability Engineering, Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Wuhan, China;
    3. College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003, China
  • Received:2016-08-29 Revised:2016-09-26 Online:2017-01-05 Published:2017-01-05
  • Contact: Xiaoli Ji E-mail:xji@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Research Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB0400402), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20141321), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61627804).

摘要: We investigate the impact of random telegraph noise (RTN) on the threshold voltage of multi-level NOR flash memory. It is found that the threshold voltage variation (ΔVth) and the distribution due to RTN increase with the programmed level (Vth) of flash cells. The gate voltage dependence of RTN amplitude and the variability of RTN time constants suggest that the large RTN amplitude and distribution at the high program level is attributed to the charge trapping in the tunneling oxide layer induced by the high programming voltages. A three-dimensional TCAD simulation based on a percolation path model further reveals the contribution of those trapped charges to the threshold voltage variation and distribution in flash memory.

关键词: random telegraph noise, NOR flash memory, percolation path, oxide charges

Abstract: We investigate the impact of random telegraph noise (RTN) on the threshold voltage of multi-level NOR flash memory. It is found that the threshold voltage variation (ΔVth) and the distribution due to RTN increase with the programmed level (Vth) of flash cells. The gate voltage dependence of RTN amplitude and the variability of RTN time constants suggest that the large RTN amplitude and distribution at the high program level is attributed to the charge trapping in the tunneling oxide layer induced by the high programming voltages. A three-dimensional TCAD simulation based on a percolation path model further reveals the contribution of those trapped charges to the threshold voltage variation and distribution in flash memory.

Key words: random telegraph noise, NOR flash memory, percolation path, oxide charges

中图分类号:  (Semiconductor-device characterization, design, and modeling)

  • 85.30.De
73.40.Qv (Metal-insulator-semiconductor structures (including semiconductor-to-insulator)) 85.40.Qx (Microcircuit quality, noise, performance, and failure analysis)