A hot hole-programmed and low-temperature-formed SONOS flash memory

In this study, a high-performance Ti (x) Zr (y) Si (z) O flash memory is demonstrated using a sol-gel spin-coating method and formed under a low annealing temperature. The high-efficiency charge storage layer is formed by depositing a well-mixed solution of titanium tetrachloride, silicon tetrachloride, and zirconium tetrachloride, followed by 60 s of annealing at 600A degrees C. The flash memory exhibits a noteworthy hot hole trapping characteristic and excellent electrical properties regarding memory window, program/erase speeds, and charge retention. At only 6-V operation, the program/erase speeds can be as fast as 120:5.2 mu s with a 2-V shift, and the memory window can be up to 8 V. The retention times are extrapolated to 10(6) s with only 5% (at 85A degrees C) and 10% (at 125A degrees C) charge loss. The barrier height of the Ti (x) Zr (y) Si (z) O film is demonstrated to be 1.15 eV for hole trapping, through the extraction of the Poole-Frenkel current. The excellent performance of the memory is attributed to high trapping sites of the low-temperature-annealed, high-kappa sol-gel film.