Simulation of state of the art EEPROM programming window closure during endurance degradation

摘要

The Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) technology has been widely studied but EEPROM Technology Computer Aided-Design (TCAD) simulations still need to be improved to handle the rises of the quality requirements of the semiconductor market. In this paper, the impact of endurance degradation on EEPROM programming window and the corresponding TCAD simulation are investigated. Advanced calibrated TCAD simulation on 110nm node is used to evaluate the distribution of negative charges trapped in the tunnel (bulk) oxide during EEPROM cycling. The total negative charge evolution found by our simulation is in agreement with the well-known trapping power law found in the literature.