Enhanced tunneling characteristics of PECVD silicon-rich-oxide (SRO) for the application in low voltage flash EEPROM

Author

Lin, C.-J. ; Hsu, C.C.-H. ; Chen, H.-H. ; Hong, G. ; Lu, L.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan

Volume

43

Issue

11

fYear

1996

fDate

11/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2021

Lastpage

2023

Abstract

High tunneling efficiency is indispensable for the application of low voltage flash EEPROM. In this study the enhanced tunneling characteristics of the thin silicon-rich-oxide (SRO) films deposited using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) as a tunneling injector was first reported. By optimizing the reactant gas ratios of [N ₂O]/[SiH₄ during SRO deposition, the tunneling voltage of flash EEPROM can be 1/3 lower than that without PECVD SRO films. The significant tunneling efficiency is found to be caused by the micro Si-islands in SRO films. Micro Si-islands in SRO films enhance the electrical field of the tunneling oxide in flash EEPROM. A modified WKB tunneling approximation has been successfully applied to model the SRO tunneling characteristics. The field enhancement factor of SRO is also found to depend on the oxide electrical field, and is proportion to the inverse of oxide electrical field

Keywords

EPROM; insulating thin films; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; integrated memory circuits; plasma CVD coatings; tunnelling; PECVD; WKB tunneling approximation; electrical field; field enhancement factor; low voltage flash EEPROM; micro-islands; reactant gas ratios; tunneling characteristics; EPROM; Electric breakdown; Electron traps; Low voltage; MOS capacitors; Microelectronics; Optical films; Semiconductor films; Temperature; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.543042

Filename

543042