Thin oxide degradation after high-energy ion irradiation

Candelori, A.; Ceschia, M.; Paccagnella, A.; Wyss, J.; Bisello, D.; Ghidini, G.

doi:10.1109/23.960365

Cited by 18 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Each cell featured the same sizes, structure, and fabrication process as those of the present work. In [20] we have reported of a 100-pA steady state leakage current after I ion irradiation, which reveals similarity with that shown by Candelori et al in [29]. We attributed this oxide leakage to a multi-trap-assisted conduction through a defect cluster generated along overlapping ion tracks across the overall dielectric stack (12 nm 5 nm thick 17 nm thick).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Radiation Tolerance of Nanocrystal-Based Flash Memory Arrays Against Heavy Ion Irradiation

Cester

Wrachien

Gasperin

et al. 2007

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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We present new results on heavy-ion irradiation of nanocrystal non-volatile addressable memory arrays. We show that the effects of a single ion hit are negligible on these devices due to the discrete nature of the storage sites. We estimate that, in order to observe an appreciable threshold voltage shift, at least three-four ion hit are needed. Despite several cells experienced multiple hits they are still functional after the irradiation, showing no changes on the retention characteristics. These results highlights an outstanding improvement of the nanocrystal technology over the conventional floating gate memories in terms of radiation tolerance, which are encouraging for a potential application in radiation-harsh environments

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Radiation Tolerance of Nanocrystal-Based Flash Memory Arrays Against Heavy Ion Irradiation

Cester

Wrachien

Gasperin

et al. 2007

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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“…If the shift is due only to a fixed positive trapped charge, this charge should be easily neutralized by electrons injected during subsequent P/E operations [26], in contrast with the observed results. Further studies are needed to clarify this point, that may involve different phenomena, such as radiation induced defects at the nanocrystal/ oxide interface that could affect the charge injected during P/E operations.…”

Section: B Ncm Mosfet Electrical Characteristicscontrasting

confidence: 64%

Radiation-Induced Modifications of the Electrical Characteristics of Nanocrystal Memory Cells and Arrays

Gasperin

Cester

Wrachien³

et al. 2006

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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Proton irradiation on Nanocrystals Memories\ud produces peculiar radiation effects on the electrical\ud characteristics of these devices, owing to their thin tunnel oxide\ud and to the presence of nanocrystals replacing the Flash memory\ud conventional floating gate. In this work we show that the data\ud retention capability is compromised only after high fluences and\ud that irradiated devices do not show accelerated degradation\ud during subsequent electrical stresses. The presence of\ud nanocrystals instead of a floating gate reduces also the quantity\ud of charge lost during irradiation, indicating these devices as\ud possible candidates for space and avionic environment

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“…The influence of the latter two effects on the Q-DLTS signal is small, because an increase in defect density of the oxide would invariably lead to an increase in trap-assisted leakage current, which is the dominant leakage current mechanism for this type of oxide. 12 The n ++ -doped wafer acts as a hole barrier. Increasing the defect density in the crystalline silicon would lead to a small increase in the hole current, but it is expected that the hole current will stay much lower than the total current which contributes to the transient charge.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Charge deep-level transient spectroscopy study of high-energy-electron-beam-irradiated hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Klaver

Nádaždy²,

Zeman

et al. 2006

Applied Physics Letters

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We present a study of changes in the defect density of states in hydrogenated amorphous silicon ͑a-Si: H͒ due to high-energy electron irradiation using charged deep-level transient spectroscopy. It was found that defect states near the conduction band were removed, while in other band gap regions the defect-state density increased. A similar trend is observed for a-Si: H which has been subjected to light soaking, but in that case the majority of defect states are created around midgap, whereas with electron-beam degradation more defect states are created near the valence-band tail. © 2006 American Institute of Physics. ͓DOI: 10.1063/1.2221876͔ Hydrogenated amorphous silicon ͑a-Si: H͒ solar cells show great promise for space application, particularly in high-radiation missions, due to their relatively high radiation tolerance and low-temperature annealing properties. 1,2 Various studies have addressed the degradation behavior of a -Si: H due to high-energy charged particle irradiation, and it is generally accepted that changes in the defect density of states govern the degradation, although trapping of the incident charge on preexisting defects is also considered. [3][4][5] The underlying degradation mechanism, however, is still under debate. Danesh et al.,6 amongst others, showed that there is a strong similarity between high-energy charged particle irradiation and the Staebler-Wronski effect, 7 i.e., reversible changes in electronic properties of a-Si: H under light exposure. In that case, it is expected that the defect-state distribution after light soaking is similar to the distribution after high-energy electron-beam irradiation. In this letter we report on changes in defect-state distribution of a-Si: H due to electron-beam irradiation measured by charge deep-level transient spectroscopy ͑Q-DLTS͒. These results are compared to findings from light-soaking experiments in order to investigate the reported similarities in the defect-creation mechanism further.Q-DLTS has been utilized to study the defect-state distribution in as-deposited as well as in light-soaked a-Si: H. This technique gives direct information about the energy distribution of the gap states and is very sensitive to changes in the gap-state distribution. According to the defect-pool model by Powell and Deane,8 Q-DLTS measurements were performed on a-Si: H based metal-oxide-semiconductor ͑MOS͒ structures, consisting of a 1-m-thick a-Si: H layer deposited on n ++ crystalline Si. The fabrication method of the MOS structure is described by Durný et al. 11 The measurements were carried out using a bias voltage of −3 V, excitation pulses of 6 V, and a rate window of 100 s −1 . Prior to electron-beam irradiation or light soaking, the samples were annealed at 200°C for 30 min. A Van de Graaff accelerator, with a beam current density of 1.5ϫ 10 12 electrons cm −2 s −1 , was employed for the 1-MeV electron irradiation using a fluence of 2 ϫ 10 15 and 2 ϫ 10 16 electrons cm −2 . Light soaking was performed for 6 and 60 min using a red light laser havin...

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Thin oxide degradation after high-energy ion irradiation

Cited by 18 publications

References 48 publications

Radiation Tolerance of Nanocrystal-Based Flash Memory Arrays Against Heavy Ion Irradiation

Radiation Tolerance of Nanocrystal-Based Flash Memory Arrays Against Heavy Ion Irradiation

Radiation-Induced Modifications of the Electrical Characteristics of Nanocrystal Memory Cells and Arrays

Charge deep-level transient spectroscopy study of high-energy-electron-beam-irradiated hydrogenated amorphous silicon

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