Comparative Study of Charge Trapping Type SOI-FinFET Flash Memories with Different Blocking Layer Materials

• Main Authors: Yongxun Liu, Toshihide Nabatame, Takashi Matsukawa, Kazuhiko Endo, Shinichi O'uchi, Junichi Tsukada, Hiromi Yamauchi, Yuki Ishikawa, Wataru Mizubayashi, Yukinori Morita, Shinji Migita, Hiroyuki Ota, Toyohiro Chikyow, Meishoku Masahara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-06-01
• Series: Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications
• Subjects: charge trapping (CT); flash memory; silicon on insulator (SOI); FinFET; blocking layer; high-k metal gate; variability
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/4/2/153

The scaled charge trapping (CT) type silicon on insulator (SOI) FinFET flash memories with different blocking layer materials of Al2O3 and SiO2 have successfully been fabricated, and their electrical characteristics including short-channel effect (SCE) immunity, threshold voltage (Vt) variability, and the memory characteristics have been comparatively investigated. It was experimentally found that the better SCE immunity and a larger memory window are obtained by introducing a high-k Al2O3 blocking layer instead of a SiO2 blocking layer. It was also confirmed that the variability of Vt before and after one program/erase (P/E) cycle is almost independent of the blocking layer materials.