Mechanism of Date Retention Improvement by High Temperature Annealing of Al2O3 Blocking Layer in Flash Memory Device

The mechanism underlying improved data retention via high-temperature oxygen annealing of the Al 2 O 3 blocking layer in a charge-trap type flash memory device is investigated in comparison with the case of high-temperature nitrogen annealing. The results show that significant improvement of the ret...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Jpn J Appl Phys 2011-04, Vol.50 (4), p.04DD07-04DD07-5
Main Authors: Park, Jong Kyung, Park, Youngmin, Lee, Seok-Hee, Lim, Sung Kyu, Oh, Jae Sub, Joo, Moon Sig, Hong, Kwon, Cho, Byung Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The mechanism underlying improved data retention via high-temperature oxygen annealing of the Al 2 O 3 blocking layer in a charge-trap type flash memory device is investigated in comparison with the case of high-temperature nitrogen annealing. The results show that significant improvement of the retention property can be achieved by oxygen annealing at 1100 °C, compared to nitrogen annealing. Experimental evidence indicated that the underlying mechanism does not arise from suppression of the trap-assisted tunneling current through the blocking oxide; instead it is caused by a reduction of the thermionic emission component of the charge loss factor. This is possibly due to changes of the conduction band offset of the crystallized Al 2 O 3 .
ISSN:0021-4922
1347-4065
DOI:10.1143/JJAP.50.04DD07