The charge loss mechanism in a hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) dielectric dot flash memory is investigated. We measure the temperature and time dependence of a charge loss induced gate leakage current in a large area cell directly. We find that 1) the charge loss is through a top oxide in the cell and 2) the stored charge emission process exhibits an Arrhenius relationship with temperature, as opposed to linear temperature dependence in a semiconductor-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor flash memory. A thermally activated tunneling front model is proposed to account for the charge loss behavior in a HfO 2 dot flash memory.Index Terms-Charge retention loss, hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) dot flash, thermally activated tunneling.
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