Lee Meng Chuan, Wong Hin Yong
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2014 Feb;14(2):1508-20. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2014.9018.
This paper is written to review the development of critical research on the overall impact of tunnel oxide nitridation (TON) with the aim to mitigate reliability issues due to incessant technology scaling of charge storage NVM devices. For more than 30 years, charge storage non-volatile memory (NVM) has been critical in the evolution of intelligent electronic devices and continuous development of integrated technologies. Technology scaling is the primary strategy implemented throughout the semiconductor industry to increase NVM density and drive down average cost per bit. In this paper, critical reliability challenges and key innovative technical mitigation methods are reviewed. TON is one of the major candidates to replace conventional oxide layer for its superior quality and reliability performance. Major advantages and caveats of key TON process techniques are discussed. The impact of TON on quality and reliability performance of charge storage NVM devices is carefully reviewed with emphasis on major advantages and drawbacks of top and bottom nitridation. Physical mechanisms attributed to charge retention and V(t) instability phenomenon are also reviewed in this paper.
本文旨在回顾隧穿氧化物氮化（TON）整体影响的关键研究进展，以缓解电荷存储非易失性存储器（NVM）器件因技术不断缩放而产生的可靠性问题。三十多年来，电荷存储非易失性存储器在智能电子设备的发展以及集成技术的持续进步中一直起着关键作用。技术缩放是整个半导体行业为提高NVM密度和降低每位平均成本而实施的主要策略。本文回顾了关键的可靠性挑战和关键的创新技术缓解方法。由于其卓越的质量和可靠性性能，TON是替代传统氧化层的主要候选之一。讨论了关键TON工艺技术的主要优点和注意事项。仔细回顾了TON对电荷存储NVM器件质量和可靠性性能的影响，重点关注顶部和底部氮化的主要优缺点。本文还回顾了与电荷保持和V(t)不稳定性现象相关的物理机制。
