Study of the Erase Mechanism of MANOS ( \hbox\hbox/\hbox/\hbox) Device

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 643 - 645
• Main Authors: LAI, Sheng-Chih, LUE, Hang-Ting, HSIEH, Kuang-Yeu, LIU, Rich, LU, Chih-Yuan, HSIEH, Jong-Yu, YANG, Ming-Jui, CHIOU, Yan-Kai, WU, Chia-Wei, WU, Tai-Bor, LUO, Guang-Li, CHIEN, Chao-Hsin, LAI, Erh-Kun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.2007; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Chaos; Dielectric substrates; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; hbox{Al}_{2}\hbox{O}_{3} blocking layer; hbox{metal} - hbox{Al}_{2}\hbox{O}_{3} - hbox{nitride} - hbox{oxide} - hbox{silicon} (MANOS); Magnetic and optical mass memories; Materials science and technology; metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor (MONOS); MONOS devices; Nonvolatile memory; Photonic band gap; refill test; Silicon compounds; SONOS devices; Storage and reproduction of information; Transient analysis; Tunneling; Interfacial layer; Memory devices; Hole; metal-oxide-nitride-oxide- semiconductor (MONOS); Blocking layer; Erasure; refill test; MANOS structure; metal-Al2O3- nitride-oxide-silicon (MANOS); Time curve; Transient analysis; Al2O3 blocking layer; Charge carrier injection
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2007.899993

The erase characteristics and mechanism of metal- Al 2 O 3 -nitride-oxide-silicon (MANOS) devices are extensively studied. We use transient analysis to transform the erase curve (V FB - time) into a J-E curve (J = transient current, E = field in the tunnel oxide) in order to understand the underlying physics. The measured erase current of MANOS is three orders of magnitude higher than that can be theoretically provided by substrate hole current. In addition, the erase current is very sensitive to the Al 2 O 3 processing condition - also inconsistent with substrate hole injection model. Thus, we propose that MANOS erase occurs through an electron detrapping mechanism. We have further carried out a refill test and its results support the detrapping model. Our results suggest that the interfacial layer between Al 2 O 3 and nitride is a key process that dominates the erase mechanism of MANOS.