Radiation Tolerance of Nanocrystal-Based Flash Memory Arrays Against Heavy Ion Irradiation

We present new results on heavy-ion irradiation of nanocrystal non-volatile addressable memory arrays. We show that the effects of a single ion hit are negligible on these devices due to the discrete nature of the storage sites. We estimate that, in order to observe an appreciable threshold voltage...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on nuclear science 2007-12, Vol.54 (6), p.2196-2203
Main Authors: Cester, A., Wrachien, N., Gasperin, A., Paccagnella, A., Portoghese, R., Gerardi, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
CMOS memory integrated circuits
Devices
Electric breakdown
Estimates
Ferroelectric materials
Flash memory
Flash memory (computers)
Gates
heavy ion irradiation
Irradiation
Leakage current
Magnetic materials
Nanocrystals
Nonvolatile memory
Phase change materials
radiation effects
Radiation tolerance
semiconductor device reliability
semiconductor memories
Stress
Threshold voltage
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Summary:We present new results on heavy-ion irradiation of nanocrystal non-volatile addressable memory arrays. We show that the effects of a single ion hit are negligible on these devices due to the discrete nature of the storage sites. We estimate that, in order to observe an appreciable threshold voltage shift, at least three to four ion hits are needed. Despite several cells experiencing multiple hits they are still functional after the irradiation, showing no changes on the retention characteristics. These results highlight an outstanding improvement of the nanocrystal technology over the conventional floating gate memories in terms of radiation tolerance, which are encouraging for a potential application in radiation harsh environments.
ISSN:0018-9499
1558-1578
DOI:10.1109/TNS.2007.908757