Title :
A comparative study of characterization techniques for oxide reliability in flash memories
Author :
Ielmini, Daniele ; Spinelli, Alessandro S. ; Lacaita, Andrea L. ; Van Duuren, Michiel J.
Author_Institution :
Dipt. di Elettronica e Informazione, Politeenico di Milano, Italy
Abstract :
We compare two different methods for extracting the leakage distribution from accelerated data-retention experiments. It is shown that the equivalent-cell (EC) scheme, which provides a fast estimation of leakage distribution in the array, is totally accurate as compared to a more detailed analysis of single memory cells within the array. The fair agreement between the results of the two characterization schemes is explained, and advantages of the EC technique for fast reliability monitoring in Flash memories are discussed.
Keywords :
cellular arrays; flash memories; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; leakage currents; EPROM; equivalent cell scheme; failure analysis; flash memories; leakage distribution estimation; oxide reliability; reliability monitoring; reliability testing; Acceleration; Availability; Condition monitoring; Failure analysis; Flash memory; Leakage current; Microscopy; Oxidation; Statistical distributions; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Device and Materials Reliability, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TDMR.2004.836719
