Random telegraph noise in flash memories - model and technology scaling

This paper presents the first statistical model of Vt fluctuation (ΔVt
_cell
) in a floating-gate flash memory due to random telegraph noise. It considers current-path percolation, which generates a large-amplitude-noise tail, caused by dopant induced surface potential non-uniformity It concludes that the impact of scaling is weaker than the widely-accepted 1/L
_eff
W
_eff
trend. 3-σ ΔVt
_cell
is estimated to increase by 1.8x rather than ≫10x from 90 nm to 20 nm technology nodes.