Tunnel Oxide Dipole Engineering in TANOS Flash Memory for Fast Programming with Good Retention and Endurance

Band engineering in TANOS (TaN-Al₂O₃-Si₃N₄-SiO₂-Silicon) Flash memory utilizing an interfacial dipole is demonstrated for the first time. A dipole layer at the tunnel oxide/charge storage layer interface leads to increase in programming speed while maintaining good retention and endurance. Using a dipole layer results in a 40% increase in Va, shift at program voltage V_g-V_fb, = 11 V. The performance improvement by dipole incorporation into the TANOS stack is discussed.