A method is proposed to account for the effects of Schottky barrier height inhomogeneities on the Richardson constant (A∗) extracted from current-voltage-temperature (I-V-T) measurements. Our approach exploits a correlation between the extracted Richardson constant and effective barrier height. As a test case, the method is applied to I-V-T measurements performed on IrOx/n-ZnO Schottky diodes. A homogeneous A∗ value of 27±7 A cm−2 K−2 is obtained, in close agreement with the theoretically expected value of 32 A cm−2 K−2 for n-type ZnO.
We report the impact of tunnel oxide nitridation (TON) on the evolution of random telegraph signal (RTS) and quick electron detrapping (QED) and investigate their microscopic origin. Applying nitridation at the SiO 2 /Si interface increases both Fermi level (RTS) and general midgap (QED) defects in fresh devices. However, it slows down additional defect generation and demonstrates improvement after severe program/erase cycling. Results from low-frequency 1/f noise indicate that TON aggravates RTS for high energy defects but hardens low energy defects, resulting in improved postcycled RTS. The suggestive defect chemistry is that strong Si-N bonding replaces relatively stable (but distorted) Si-O bonding, rather than passivating high energy dangling bonds. The Si-N bonding also causes more interface bonds to break, reducing strain and improving immunity against Fowler-Nordheim stress.Index Terms-Defect chemistry, Flash memory, low-frequency (LF) 1/f noise, multilevel cell (MLC), nitridation, oxynitride, quick electron detrapping (QED), random telegraph signal (RTS), tunnel oxide.
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