• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2009.08a
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• pp.211-211
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.97-98
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• 2009

Tunneling barrier engineered charge trap flash (TBE-CTF) memory capacitor were fabricated using the tunneling barrier engineering technique. Variable oxide thickness (VARIOT) barrier and CRESTED barrier consisting of thin $SiO_2$ and $Si_3N_4$ dielectrics layers were used as engineered tunneling barrier. The charge trapping characteristic with different metal gates are also investigated. A larger memory window was achieved from the TBE-CTF memory with high workfunction metal gate.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.360-369
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• 2012

The causes of showing different subthreshold slopes (SS) in programmed and erased states for two different charge trap flash (CTF) memory devices, SONOS type flash memory with gate-all-around (GAA) structure and TANOS type NAND flash memory with planar structure were investigated. To analyze the difference in SSs, TCAD simulation and low-frequency noise (LFN) measurement were fulfilled. The device simulation was performed to compare SSs considering the gate electric field effect to the channel and to check the localized trapped charge distribution effect in nitride layer while the comparison of noise power spectrum was carried out to inspect the generation of interface traps ($N_{IT}$). When each cell in the measured two memory devices is erased, the normalized LFN power is increased by one order of magnitude, which is attributed to the generation of $N_{IT}$ originated by the movement of hydrogen species ($h^*$) from the interface. As a result, the SS is degraded for the GAA SONOS memory device when erased where the $N_{IT}$ generation is a prominent factor. However, the TANOS memory cell is relatively immune to the SS degradation effect induced by the generated $N_{IT}$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.462-467
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• 2009

The Charge Trap Flash (CTF) memory device is a replacement candidate for the NAND Flash device. In this study, Pt/$Al_2O_3/La_2O_3/SiO_2$/Si multilayer structures with lanthanum oxide charge trap layers were fabricated for nonvolatile memory device applications. Aluminum oxide films were used as blocking oxides for low power consumption in program/erase operations and reduced charge transports through blocking oxide layers. The thicknesses of $SiO_2$ were from 30 $\AA$ to 50 $\AA$. From the C-V measurement, the largest memory window of 1.3V was obtained in the 40 $\AA$ tunnel oxide specimen, and the 50 $\AA$ tunnel oxide specimen showed the smallest memory window. In the cycling test for reliability, the 30 $\AA$ tunnel oxide sample showed an abrupt memory window reduction due to a high electric field of 9$\sim$10MV/cm through the tunnel oxide while the other samples showed less than a 10% loss of memory window for $10^4$ cycles of program/erase operation. The I-V measurement data of the capacitor structures indicated leakage current values in the order of $10^{-4}A/cm^2$ at 1V. These values are small enough to be used in nonvolatile memory devices, and the sample with tunnel oxide formed at $850^{\circ}C$ showed superior memory characteristics compared to the sample with $750^{\circ}C$ tunnel oxide due to higher concentration of trap sites at the interface region originating from the rough interface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2009.02a
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• pp.132.1-132.1
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.196-197
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• 2010

NAND형 charge trap flash (CTF) non-volatile memory (NVM) 소자가 30nm node 이하로 고집적화 되면서, 기존의 SONOS형 CTF NVM의 tunnel barrier로 쓰이는 SiO2는 direct tunneling과 stress induced leakage current (SILC)등의 효과로 인해 data retention의 감소 등 물리적인 한계에 이르렀다. 이에 따라 개선된 retention과 빠른 쓰기/지우기 속도를 만족시키기 위해서 tunnel barrier engineering (TBE)가 제안되었다. TBE NVM은 tunnel layer의 전위장벽을 엔지니어드함으로써 낮은 전압에서 전계의 민감도를 향상 시켜 동일한 두께의 단일 SiO2 터널베리어 보다 빠른 쓰기/지우기 속도를 확보할 수 있다. 또한 최근에 각광받는 high-k 물질을 TBE NVM에 적용시키는 연구가 활발히 진행 중이다. 본 연구에서는 Si3N4와 HfAlO (HfO2 : Al2O3 = 1:3)을 적층시켜 staggered의 새로운 구조의 tunnel barrier Capacitor를 제작하여 전기적 특성을 후속 열처리 온도와 방법에 따라 평가하였다. 실험은 n-type Si (100) wafer를 RCA 클리닝 실시한 후 Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD)를 이용하여 Si3N4 3 nm 증착 후, Atomic layer deposition (ALD)를 이용하여 HfAlO를 3 nm 증착하였다. 게이트 전극은 e-beam evaporation을 이용하여 Al를 150 nm 증착하였다. 후속 열처리는 수소가 2% 함유된 질소 분위기에서 $300^{\circ}C$와 $450^{\circ}C$에서 Forming gas annealing (FGA) 실시하였고 질소 분위기에서 $600^{\circ}C{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$까지 Rapid thermal annealing (RTA)을 각각 실시하였다. 전기적 특성 분석은 후속 열처리 공정의 온도와 열처리 방법에 따라 Current-voltage와 Capacitance-voltage 특성을 조사하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.119-119
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• 2008

The electrical characteristics of Metal-Ferroelectric-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (MFNOS) structure is studied and compared to the conventional Silicon-Oixde-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (SONOS) capacitor. The ferroelectric blocking layer is SrBiNbO (SBN with Sr/Bi ratio 1-x/2+x) with the thickness of 200 nm and is fabricated by the RF sputter. The memory windows of MFNOS and SONOS capacitors with sweep voltage from +10 V to -10 V are 6.9 V and 5.9 V, respectively. The effect of ferroelectric blocking layer and charge trapping on the memory window was discussed. The retention of MFNOS capacitor also shows the 10-years and longer retention time than that of the SONOS capacitor. The better retention properties of the MFNOS capacitor may be attributed to the charge holding effect by the polarization of ferroelectric layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.331-331
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• 2012

With the NAND Flash scaling down, it becomes more and more difficult to follow Moore's law to continue the scaling due to physical limitations. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) flash memories have introduced as an ideal solution for ultra-high-density data storage. In 3D flash memory, as the process reason, we need to use poly-Si TFTs instead of conventional transistors. So, after combining charge trap flash (CTF) structure and poly-Si TFTs, the emerging device SONOS-TFTs has also suffered from some reliability problem such as hot carrier degradation, charge-trapping-induced parasitic capacitance and resistance which both create interface traps. Charge pumping method is a useful tool to investigate the degradation phenomenon related to interface trap creation. However, the curves for charge pumping current in SONOS TFTs were far from ideal, which previously due to the fabrication process or some unknown traps. It needs an optimization and the important geometrical effect should be eliminated. In spite of its importance, it is still not deeply studied. In our work, base-level sweep model was applied in SONOS TFTs, and the nonideal charge pumping current was optimized by adjusting the gate pulse transition time. As a result, after the optimizing, an improved charge pumping current curve is obtained.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.186-186
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• 2010

소자의 축소화에 따라 floating gate 형의 flash 메모리 소자는 얇은 게이트 절연막 등의 이유로, 이웃 셀 간의 커플링 및 게이트 누설 전류와 같은 문제점을 지니고 있다. 이러한 문제점을 극복하기 위해 charge trap flash 메모리 (CTF) 소자가 연구되고 있지만, CTF 메모리 소자는 쓰기/지우기 속도와 데이터 보존 성능간의 trade-off 관계와 같은 문제점을 지니고 있다. 최근, 이를 극복하기 위한 방안으로, 다른 유전율을 갖는 유전체들을 적층시킨 터널 절연막을 이용한 Tunnel Barrier Engineered (TBE) 기술이 주목 받고 있다. 따라서, 본 논문에서는 TBE 기술을 적용한 MIS-capacitor를 높은 유전율을 가지는 Al2O3와 HfO2를 이용하여 제작하였다. 이를 위해 먼저 Si 기판 위에 Al2O3 /HfO2 /Al2O3 (AHA)를 Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) 방법으로 약 2/1/3 nm의 두께를 가지도록 증착 하였고, Aluminum을 150 nm 증착 하여 게이트 전극으로 이용하였다. Capacitance-Voltage와 Current-Voltage 특성을 측정, 분석함으로써, AHA 구조를 가지는 터널 절연막의 전기적인 특성을 확인 하였다. 또한, high-k 물질을 이용한 터널 절연막을 급속 열처리 공정 (Rapid Thermal Annealing-RTA) 과 H2/N2분위기에서 후속열처리 공정 (Post-RTA)을 통하여 전기적인 특성을 개선 시켰다. 적층된 터널 절연막은 열처리를 통해 터널링 전류의 민감도의 향상과 함께 누설전류가 감소됨으로서 우수한 전기적인 특성이 나타남을 확인하였으며, 적층된 터널 절연막 구조와 적절한 열처리를 이용하여 빠른 쓰기/지우기 속도와 전기적인 특성이 향상된 비휘발성 메모리 소자를 기대할 수 있다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.789-790
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• 2013

$Er_2O_3/SiO_2$ double-layer gate dielectric shows low gate leakage current and high capacitance. In this paper, we apply $Er_2O_3/SiO_2$ double-layer gate dielectric as a charge trap layer for the first time. $Er_2O_3/SiO_2$ double-layer thickness is optimized by EDISON Nanophysics simulation tools. Using the simulation results, we fabricated Schottky-barrier silicide source/drain transistor, which has10 um/10um gate length and width, respectively. The nonvolatile device demonstrated very promising characterstics with P/E voltage of 11 V/-11 V, P/E speed of 50 ms/500 ms, data retention of ten years, and endurance of $10^4$ P/E cycles.