Title :
Reliability of pFET EEPROM with 70-Å tunnel oxide manufactured in generic logic CMOS Processes
Author :
Ma, Yanjun ; Gilliland, Troy ; Bin Wang ; Paulsen, Ron ; Pesavento, Alberto ; Wang, C.-H. ; Nguyen, Hoc ; Humes, Todd ; Diorio, Chris
Author_Institution :
Impinj Inc., Seattle, WA, USA
Abstract :
We investigate the reliability of pFET-based EEPROMs with 70-Å tunneling oxides fabricated in standard foundry 0.35-μm, 0.25-μm, and 0.18-μm logic CMOS processes. The floating-gate memory cell uses Fowler-Nordheim tunneling erase and impact-ionization generated hot-electron injection for programming. We show that charge leakage is dominated by the leakage through interlayer dielectrics. We propose a retention model and show the data retention lifetime exceeds 10 years. These results demonstrate the feasibility of producing nonvolatile memory using standard logic processes that have a 70-Å oxide.
Keywords :
CMOS logic circuits; CMOS memory circuits; EPROM; field effect transistors; hot carriers; integrated circuit reliability; leakage currents; tunnelling; 0.18 micron; 0.25 micron; 0.35 micron; CMOS memory integrated circuits; Fowler-Nordheim tunneling erase; charge leakage; data retention lifetime; floating-gate memory cell; generic logic CMOS processes; hot-electron injection; impact ionization; interlayer dielectrics; nonvolatile memory; pFET EEPROM reliability; reliability model; tunnel oxide; CMOS logic circuits; CMOS process; Dielectrics; EPROM; Foundries; Logic programming; Manufacturing processes; Nonvolatile memory; Secondary generated hot electron injection; Tunneling;
Journal_Title :
Device and Materials Reliability, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TDMR.2004.837119
