• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.138-142
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• 2019

As the NAND flash memory goes to 3D vertical Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (SONOS) structure, the lateral charge migration can be critical in the reliability performance. Even more, with miniaturization of flash memory cell device, just a little movement of trapped charge can cause reliability problems. In this paper, we propose a method of predicting the trapped charge profile in the retention mode. Charge diffusivity in the charge trapping layer (Si₃N₄) was extracted experimentally, and the effect on the trapped charge profile was demonstrated by the simulation and experiment.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.134-137
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• 2019

In this paper, the data retention characteristics were analyzed to find out the thickness effect on the trap energy distribution of silicon nitride in the silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory devices. The nitride films were prepared by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The flat band voltage shift in the programmed device was measured at the elevated temperatures to observe the thermal excitation of electrons from the nitride traps in the retention mode. The trap energy distribution was extracted using the charge decay rates and the experimental results show that the portion of the shallow interface trap in the total nitride trap amount including interface and bulk trap increases as the nitride thickness decreases.

• 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.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.183-186
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• 2015

This research investigates the impact of charge spreading on the data retention of three-dimensional (3D) silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory where the charge trapping layer is shared along the cell string. In order to do so, this study conducts an electrical analysis of the planar SONOS test pattern where the silicon nitride charge storage layer is not isolated but extends beyond the gate electrode. Experimental results from the test pattern show larger retention loss in the devices with extended storage layers compared to isolated devices. This retention degradation is thought to be the result of an additional charge spreading through the extended silicon nitride layer along the width of the memory cell, which should be improved for the successful 3-D application of SONOS flash devices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1017-1021
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• 2007

To implement tera bit level non-volatile memories of low power and fast operation, proving statistical reproductivity and satisfying reliabilities at the nano-scale are a key challenge. We fabricate the charge trapping nano scaled SONOS unit memories and 64 bit flash arrays and evaluate reliability and performance of them. In case of the dielectric stack thickness of 4.5 /9.3 /6.5 nm with the channel width and length of 34 nm and 31nm respectively, the device has about 3.5 V threshold voltage shift with write voltage of $10\;{\mu}s$, 15 V and erase voltage of 10 ms, -15 V. And retention and endurance characteristics are above 10 years and $10^5$ cycle, respectively. The device with LDD(Lightly Doped Drain) process shows reduction of short channel effect and GIDL(Gate Induced Drain Leakage) current. Moreover we investigate three different types of flash memory arrays.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.631-636
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• 2012

Conventional SONOS (poly-silicon/oxide/nitride/oxide/silicon) type memory is associated with a retention issue due to the continuous demand for scaled-down devices. In this study, $Al_2O_3/Y_2O_3/SiO_2$ (AYO) multilayer structures using a high-k $Y_2O_3$ film as a charge-trapping layer were fabricated for nonvolatile memory applications. This work focused on improving the retention properties using a $Y_2O_3$ layer with different tunnel oxide thickness ranging from 3 nm to 5 nm created by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The electrical properties and reliabilities of each specimen were evaluated. The results showed that the $Y_2O_3$ with 4 nm $SiO_2$ tunnel oxide layer had the largest memory window of 1.29 V. In addition, all specimens exhibited stable endurance characteristics (program/erasecycles up to $10^4$) due to the superior charge-trapping characteristics of $Y_2O_3$. We expect that these high-k $Y_2O_3$ films can be candidates to replace $Si_3N_4$ films as the charge-trapping layer in SONOS-type flash memory devices.

• 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.

• 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.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.155-165
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• 2010

As a promising candidate to replace the conventional floating gate flash memories, polysilicon-oxide-nitride-oxidesilicon (SONOS)-type nonvolatile semiconductor memories have been investigated widely in the past several years. SONOS-type memories have some advantages over the conventional floating gate flash memories, such as lower operating voltage, excellent endurance and compatibility with standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. However, their operating speed and date retention characteristics are still the bottlenecks to limit the applications of SONOS-type memories. Recently, various approaches have been used to make a trade-off between the operating speed and the date retention characteristics. Application of high-k dielectrics to SONOS-type memories is a predominant route. This article provides the state-of-the-art research progress of high-k dielectrics applicable to SONOS-type nonvolatile semiconductor memories. It begins with a short description of working mechanism of SONOS-type memories, and then deals with the materials' requirements of high-k dielectrics used for SONOS-type memories. In the following section, the microstructures of high-k dielectrics used as tunneling layers, charge trapping layers and blocking layers in SONOS-type memories, and their impacts on the memory behaviors are critically reviewed. The improvement of the memory characteristics by using multilayered structures, including multilayered tunneling layer or multilayered charge trapping layer are also discussed. Finally, this review is concluded with our perspectives towards the future researches on the high-k dielectrics applicable to SONOS-type nonvolatile semiconductor memories.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.409-413
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• 2012

In this study, a substrate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method is proposed for realizing 4-bit/1-cell operation of the SONOS memory. The programming voltage and time are considerably reduced by this programming method than a gate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method and CHEI method. It is confirmed that the difference of 4-states in the threshold voltage is maintained to more than 0.5 V at least for 10-year for the multi-level characteristics.