Abstract
A soft program method is proposed for charge-trap flash (CTF) memory devices. By adding a subsequent small positive gate pulse after main Fowler-Nordheim (FN) injection programming, early charge loss is greatly reduced. The multi-level cell performance as well as the initial flat-band voltage (VFB) instability can thereby be improved by removing the trapped electrons at the shallow traps in the blocking oxide layer. The proposed soft program method is a simple but very effective way to improve the fast retention property without changing the memory structure, especially for cases where the κ-value of the blocking oxide is high.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 86-90 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Solid-State Electronics |
| Volume | 94 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2014 |
Keywords
- Blocking oxide
- Reliability
- Soft program
- TANOS