A discharge-based multi-pulse technique (DMP) for probing electron trap energy distribution in high-k materials for Flash memory application

Electron trap energy distribution in the bulk of high-k materials is the essential information required for accurate retention prediction and fast material and processing optimization in Flash memory application. A new discharge-based multi-pulse technique (DMP) has been developed in this work, which, for the first time, gives this distribution across the bulk of high-k dielectric layer. Electron trap energy distributions in HfO₂, Al₂O₃ and HfAlO stacks have been extracted and compared to identify the effects of material variation.