Advanced electrical-level modeling of EEPROM cells

Conventional modeling of floating-gate electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) cells is shown to be inadequate to correctly evaluate the tunnel current flowing through the MOS injector during programming, essentially because of relevant quantum phenomena taking place at the cathode semiconductor-oxide interface. An electrical-level model incorporating numerical analysis of such effects is developed and discussed. The model is validated by comparing results of the simulations with experimental data obtained with EEPROM cells. The model of the MOS injector has been implemented in the circuit simulator SPICE.<
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