Fast and reliable tunnel programming of nanocrystal nonvolatile memories

In this brief, we applied the technique of pulsed Fowler-Nordheim programming to Flash memories with silicon nanocrystals as discrete storage nodes. The waveform was optimized with respect to program time and oxide reliability, starting from a systematic study of the trap dynamics. The goal of a fast programming was successfully achieved, with a slight increase of the program voltage, without degrading the stress-induced leakage current (SILC) and endurance.