Characterization of the triple-gate flash memory endurance degradation mechanism

Write/erase degradation after endurance cycling due to electron trapping events in triple-gate flash mem-ory have been detected and analyzed using a tYV erasure method. Different from the commonly degradation phe-nomenon, write-induced electron trapping in the floating gate oxide, electron trapping in tunneling oxide is observed in triple-gate flash memory. Further, the degradation due to single-electron locally trapping/de-trapping in horn-shaped SuperFlash(R) does not occur in the triple-gate flash cell. This is because of planar poly-to-poly erasing in the triple-gate flash cell instead of tip erasing in the horn-shaped SuperFlash(R) cell. Moreover, by TCAD simulation, the trap location is identified and the magnitude of its density is quantified roughly.