W/Ta2O5/TaN MIM capacitor for high density one time programmable memory

In this paper, we report a study on an alternative one time programmable (OTP) memory cell consisting in an access MOSFET and a capacitor integrated between the contact plug and the first metal line level. Such an OTP should result in a denser cell as compared to the standard polyfuse or antifuse OTPs. The results obtained on these integrated capacitors show good overall electrical performance with breakdown voltage adjustable under 5 V and large sense current margins (about 6 decades). The dispersion, even if quite large in this initial study, proved to be manageable since the capacitor's acceleration factors are high.