New Punch-through Assisted Hot Holes Programming Mechanism for Reliable SONOS FLASH Memories with Thick Tunnel Oxide

This article reports a new, low voltage (VCG=-6V, VDS=5V) and medium power punch-through assisted hot holes (PAHH) programming mechanism for thick tunnel oxide SONOS. The mechanism is meant for short CG lengths and yields good memory characteristics: 5.5V VT window (symmetric around 0V), 100mus programming time, endurance of 10k cycles, excellent immunity to disturbs, and good memory retention. The presented operation scheme is suitable for reliable embedded SONOS flash memories in sub-100 nm CMOS generations.