0000000000645927
AUTHOR
Gerard Ghibaudo
Peculiar aspects of nanocrystal memory cells: Data and extrapolations
Nanocrystal memory cell are a promising candidate for the scaling of nonvolatile memories in which the conventional floating gate is replaced by an array of nanocrystals. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a thorough investigation of the possibilities and the limitations of such new memory cell. In particular, we focus on devices characterized by a very thin tunnel oxide layer and by silicon nanocrystals formed by chemical vapor deposition. The direct tunneling of the electrons through the tunnel oxide, their storage into the silicon nanocrystals, and furthermore, retention, endurance, and drain turn-on effects, well-known issues for nonvolatile memories, are all investigate…
How far will Silicon nanocrystals push the scaling limits of NVMs technologies?
For the first time, memory devices with optimized high density (2E12#/cm/sup 2/) LPCVD Si nanocrystals have been reproducibly achieved and studied on an extensive statistical basis (from single cell up to 1 Mb test-array) under different programming conditions. An original experimental and theoretical analysis of the threshold voltage shift distribution shows that Si nanocrystals have serious potential to push the scaling of NOR and NAND flash at least to the 35 nm and 65 nm nodes, respectively.