Jong-Sun Sel

A novel NAND-type MONOS memory using 63nm process technology for multi-gigabit flash EEPROMs

A NAND-type MONOS device has been successfully developed by breakthrough technologies including optimized cell structures and integration schemes providing favorable memory cell structures and peripheral circuits. In this study, optimized TANOS (TaN-Al2O 3-nitride-oxide- silicon) cells integrated using 63nm NAND flash technology showed high performance compatible to floating-gate (FG) cell. The newly-developed TANOS-NAND flash technology proved to be a promising candidate to replace FG memory beyond 50nm technology

8 Gb MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash memory using 63 nm process technology

For the first time, 8 Gb multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory with 63 nm design rule is developed for mass storage applications. Its unit cell size is 0.0164 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, the smallest ever reported. ArF lithography with off-axis illumination (OAI) was employed for critical layers. In addition, self-aligned floating poly-silicon gate (SAP), tungsten gate with an optimized re-oxidation process, oxide spacer and tungsten bit-line (BL) with low resistance were implemented.

Highly Manufacturable 32Gb Multi -- Level NAND Flash Memory with 0.0098 μm 2 Cell Size using TANOS(Si - Oxide - Al2O3 - TaN) Cell Technology

A highly manufacturable 32Gb multi-level NAND flash memory with 0.0098 μm2 cell size using 40nm TANOS cell technologies has been successfully developed for the first time. The main key technologies of 40nm 32Gb NAND flash are advanced high N.A immersion photolithography with off-axis illumination system, advanced blocking oxide of the TANOS cell, and PVD tungsten and flowable oxide for bit line

Effects of Lateral Charge Spreading on the Reliability of TANOS (TaN/AlO/SiN/Oxide/Si) NAND Flash Memory

It was found that the charge loss behavior of TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-nitride-oxide-silicon) cells for NAND flash memory application is highly dependent on the gate structures for the first time. The gate structures with trap layers remained on source and drain regions showed increased charge loss compared to the one with trap layers separated between different gate lines. The improvement by removing the trap layers between gate lines suggests that the lateral charge spreading via trap layers from the programmed cells to the adjacent erased cells contributes to the charge loss of the TANOS cells.

A Novel nand Flash Memory With Asymmetric S/D Structure Using Fringe-Field-Induced Inversion Layer

A NAND flash memory device for sub-40-nm-node technology and beyond utilizing an asymmetric source/drain (S/D) structure to suppress short-channel effects and improve the th distribution is presented in this paper. The asymmetric S/D structure consists of a diffused junction and inversion layer which is induced by the fringe field of the gate bias voltage during NAND operation. To reduce the area overhead caused by the select transistors, a 64-cell NAND string, which is twice the number of cells used in conventional NAND devices, is also evaluated. The proposed NAND memory device is demonstrated by a 32-Mb test chip which is fabricated using a 60-nm NAND flash technology. It exhibits subthreshold slope characteristics that improved by 37% and a programmed th distribution width that improved by 35% while almost maintaining multiple-level-cell NAND flash performance requirements.

Multi-Level NAND Flash Memory with 63 nm-Node TANOS (Si-Oxide-SiN-Al2O3-TaN) Cell Structure

For the first time, multi-level NAND flash memories with a 63 nm design rule are developed successfully using charge trapping memory cells of Si/SiO2/SiN/Al2O3/TaN (TANOS). We successfully integrated TANOS cells into multi-gigabit multi-level NAND flash memory without changing the memory window and circuit design of the conventional floating-gate type NAND flash memories by improving erase speed. The evolved TANOS cells show four-level cell distribution which is free from program disturbance and a charge loss of less than 0.4 V at high temperature bake test

A 64-Cell NAND Flash Memory with Asymmetric S/D Structure for Sub-40nm Technology and Beyond

A new 64-cell NAND flash memory with asymmetric S/D (Source/Drain) structure for sub-40nm node technology and beyond has been successfully developed. To suppress short channel effect in NAND memory cell, asymmetric S/D consisting of optimized junction and inversion layer induced by fringe field of WL bias which is applied at NAND operation conditions is successfully utilized. 64-cell NAND string which is double number of cells used in current NAND string is also used to further reduce bit cost by achieving over 10% chip size reduction while almost maintaining MLC (multi-level-cell) NAND performance requirements

Data Retention Characteristics of Nitride-Based Charge Trap Memory Devices with High-

The data retention characteristics of nitride-based charge trap memories using metal–oxide–nitride–oxide–silicon (MONOS) structures employing high-k dielectrics and high-work-function metal gates have been investigated. The fabricated MONOS devices with structures of TaN/Al2O3/Si3N4/SiO2/ p-Si show fast program/erase characteristics with a large memory window of greater than 6 V at program and erase voltages of ±18 V. From a bake retention test at high temperatures (200, 225, 250, and 275 °C), it is expected to take more than 40 years to lose less than 0.5 V charge loss at 85 °C. In this paper, we present an optimized cell structure for both improved data retention and erase speed, as well as a systematic study on the charge decay process in MONOS-type flash memory for high-density device applications.

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Recently, the demand for 3b/cell NAND flash has been increasing due to a strong market shift from 2b/cell to 3b/cell in NAND flash applications, such as USB disk drives, memory cards, MP3 players and digital still cameras that require cost-effective flash memory. To further expand the 3b/cell market, high write and read performances are essential [1]. Moreover, the device reliability requirements for these applications is a challenge due to continuing NAND scaling to sub-30nm pitches that increases cell-to-cell interference and disturbance. We present a high reliability 64Gb 3b/cell NAND flash with 7MB/s write rate and 200Mb/s asynchronous DDR interface in a 20m-node technology that helps to meet the expanding market demand and application requirement.

Dielectrics and High-Work-Function Metal Gates for Multi-Gigabit Flash Memory

A scalable wordline shielding scheme using dummy cell in NAND flash memory is presented to eliminate abnormal disturb of edge memory cell which causes to degradation of NAND flash performance. The proposed NAND flash is also able to improve more NAND scaling compared to conventional NAND string beyond sub-40 nm technology node. By using a proposed program scheme which includes an optimized bias voltage and adjusted Vth of dummy cell, almost abnormal disturbance of edge memory cell is removed and over 58% capacitive coupling noise between select transistor and edge memory cell can be reduced from both simulation and experimental results which used 63 nm NAND flash technology. The proposed NAND flash also improves Vth distribution of memory cell by providing almost equal operation conditions for all memory cells in NAND string.