TCAD Modeling and Data of NOR Nanocrystal Memories
Introduction
It is widely believed that the scaling of standard Flash devices will face in a near future several limitations, due to the high voltage requirement of the program/erase and the stringent charge storage requirement of the dielectrics [1]. Among the possible solutions to push further the scaling limits of standard technologies, Si nanocrystal (Si-NC) memories are one of the most promising. It has been shown that thanks to the discrete nature of Si-NC, thinner tunnel oxide can be used (allowing lower operating voltages), without compromising the reliability [2, 3]. Indeed, a first understanding of the Si-NC memory behaviour can be achieved through simplified/semianalytical models [4, 5, 6]. Nevertheless, these approaches are not enough accurate to allow the optimization of the technological parameters, especially for NOR cells, written by channel hot electron (CHE) injection. To this aim, more complex numerical models, which take into account twodimensional (2D) or even three-dimensional (3D) effects, should be used.