Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-tnzcf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T20:03:34.594Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Nonvolatile MOSFET Memory Device Based on Mobile Protons in the Gate Dielectric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

K. Vanheusden,
W.L. Warren,
D.M. Fleetwood,
R.A.B. Devine,
B.L. Draper,
J.R. Schwank,
M.R. Shaneyfelt and
P.S. Wlnokur
K. Vanheusden
Affiliation:
US Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117; karel@unm.edu
W.L. Warren
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;now at DARPA/DSO, Arlington, VA 22203
D.M. Fleetwood
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;
R.A.B. Devine
Affiliation:
CNET-France Télécom, B.P. 98, 38243 Meylan, France
B.L. Draper
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;
J.R. Schwank
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;
M.R. Shaneyfelt
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;
P.S. Wlnokur
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185;
Get access

Abstract

Ever since the introduction of the metal-oxide-silicon field-effect-transistor (MOSFET), the nature of mobile and trapped charge in the oxide layer has been studied in great detail. For example, contamination with alkali ions such as sodium, causing instability of the flat-band voltage, was a major concern in the early days of MOS fabrication. Another SiO2 impurity of particular interest is hydrogen, because of its beneficial property of passivating charge traps. In this work we show that annealing of Si/SiO2/Si structures in forming gas (Ar:H2; 95:5) above 400 °C can introduce mobile H+ ions into the SiO2 layer. These mobile protons are confined within the oxide layer, and their space-charge distribution is well controllable and easily rearrangeable by applying a gate bias, making them potentially useful for application in a reliable nonvolatile MOSFET memory device. We present speed, retention, endurance, and radiation tolerance data showing that this non-volatile memory technology can be competitive with existing Si-based non-volatile memory technologies such as Flash.

The chemical kinetics of mobile-proton reactions in the SiO2 film are also analyzed in greater detail. Our data show that the initial buildup of mobile protons during hydrogen annealing is limited by the rate of lateral hydrogen diffusion into the buried SiO2 films. The final density of mobile protons is determined by the cooling rate which terminates the annealing process and, in the case of subsequent anneals, by the temperature of the final anneal. To explain the observations, we propose a dynamical equilibrium model. Based on these insights, the incorporation of the proton generation process into standard semiconductor process flows is discussed.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

[1] Brower, K. L., Phys. Rev. B 42, 3444 (1990).Google Scholar
[2] McLean, F. B., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 27, 1651 (1980).Google Scholar
[3] Saks, N. S. and Rendell, R. W., Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 3014 (1992).Google Scholar
[4] Deal, B.E., Sklar, M., Grove, A.S., and Snow, E.H., J. Electrochem. Soc. 114, 266 (1967).Google Scholar
[5] Warren, W.L., Vanheusden, K., Schwank, J.R., Fleetwood, D.M., Winokur, P.S., and Devine, R.A.B., Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 2993 (1996).Google Scholar
[6] Afanas'ev, V.V. and Stesmans, A., Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 79 (1998).Google Scholar
[7] Vanheusden, K., Warren, W.L., Devine, R.A.B., Fleetwood, D.M., Schwank, J.R., Shaneyfelt, M.R., Winokur, P.S., and Lemnios, Z.J., Nature 386, 587(1997).Google Scholar
[8] Vanheusden, K., Warren, W.L., Devine, R.A.B., Schwank, J.R., Fleetwood, D.M., Polcawich, R.G., Kama, S.P., and Pugh, R.D., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 44, p. 2087 (1997).Google Scholar
[9] Lawrence, R.K., Hughes, H.L., Stahlbush, R.E., Ma, D.I., and Twigg, M.E., in Vol. 97CH36069 of IEEE International SOI Conference Proceedings (Yosemite, CA, 1997), p. 142.Google Scholar
[10] Lifshitz, N. and Smolinsky, G., Appl Phys. Lett. 55, 408 (1989).Google Scholar
[11] See, e.g., Winokur, P.S., Boesch, H.E., McGarrity, J.M., and McLean, F.B., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 24, 2113 (1977).Google Scholar
[12] Auberton-Herve, A.J., Barge, T., Metral, F., Bruel, M., Aspar, B., Maleville, C., Moriceau, H., Poumeyrol, T., in Amorphous and Crystalline Insulating Thin Films, Vol. 446, edited by Warren, W.L., Devine, R.A.B., Matsumura, M., Cristoloveanu, S., Homma, Y., Kanicki, J. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, 1997), p. 177.Google Scholar
[13] Sharma, B. L., in Diffusion in Semiconductors (Trans. Tech. Pub., Germany, 1970), p. 87.Google Scholar
[14] Cristoloveanu, S. and Li, S. S., in Electrical characterization of silicon-on-insulator materials and devices (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA, 1995) p. 104.Google Scholar
[15] Hofstein, S.R., IEEE Trans. Elect. Dev. 14, 749 (1967).Google Scholar
[16] Saks, N. S. and Rendell, R. W., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 39, 2220 (1992).Google Scholar
[17] Vanheusden, K., Kama, S.P., Pugh, R.D., Warren, W.L., Fleetwood, D.M., Devine, R.A.B., and Edwards, A.H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 28 (1998).Google Scholar
[18] Fleetwood, D.M., J. Appl. Phys. 67, 580 (1990).Google Scholar
[19] Griscom, D.L., J. Appl. Phys. 58, 2524 (1985).Google Scholar