A statistical model for SILC in flash memories

Author

Ielmini, Daniele ; Spinelli, Alessandro S. ; Lacaita, Andrea L. ; Modelli, Alberto

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Volume

49

Issue

11

fYear

2002

fDate

11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1955

Lastpage

1961

Abstract

The reliability of flash memories is strongly. limited by the stress-induced leakage current (SILC), which leads to accelerated charge-loss phenomena in a few anomalous cells. Estimating the reliability of large flash arrays requires that physically-based models for the statistical distribution of SILC are developed. In this paper, we show a physical model for the leakage mechanism in thin oxides, which is able us to explain the anomalous leakage-conduction in tail cells. The physical model is then used for a quantitative evaluation of the SILC distribution in large flash arrays. The new model can reproduce the statistics of SILC for a wide range of tunnel-oxide thickness, and can provide a straightforward estimation of the reliability for large flash arrays.

Keywords

flash memories; integrated circuit modelling; integrated circuit reliability; integrated memory circuits; leakage currents; statistical analysis; EPROM; SILC distribution; accelerated charge-loss phenomena; anomalous leakage-conduction; flash memory reliability; large flash arrays; leakage mechanism; physical model; reliability modeling; statistical model; stress-induced leakage current; tail cells; thin oxides; tunnel-oxide thickness; Acceleration; Electron traps; Flash memory; Lead compounds; Leakage current; MOSFETs; Numerical models; Statistical distributions; Tail; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2002.804730

Filename

1097912