Simplified 0.35-μm flash EEPROM process using high-temperature oxide (HTO) deposited by LPCVD as interpoly dielectrics and peripheral transistors gate oxide

A simplified flash EEPROM process was developed using high-temperature LPCVD oxide both as flash cells interpoly dielectrics and as peripheral transistors gate oxide (decoding logic). An O/sub 2/ anneal at 850/spl deg/C lowers charge trapping and interface trap density induced by Fowler-Nordheim injection. However, electron trapping remains slightly higher than with dry thermal oxide. Similar memory charge loss and write-erase endurance are obtained as for ONO-insulated cells. HTO thus proves to have the required quality and reliability to be used in flash EEPROMs.