A novel junction-assisted programming scheme for Si-nanocrystal memory devices with improved performance

A novel drain-junction-assisted hot electron programming scheme has been proposed for Si nanocrystal memory devices. Different from the conventional channel hot electron (CHE) injection, two electron injection paths are responsible for the proposed scheme. Experimental results show that the new scheme has a nearly 1 V memory window increase and almost 300 times faster programming speed rather than the conventional CHE method. Meanwhile, improved data retention and endurance characteristics have also been achieved with the enlarged memory window, which is mainly due to less tunnel oxide degradation during the program/erase cycling. Therefore, the new scheme is shown to be more promising for Si nanocrystal memory application.