Thickness-dependence of oxide-nitride-oxide erase property in SONOS flash memory

With the device dimension scaling down, thickness-dependent property optimization for Oxide-Nitride-Oxide (ONO) used in SONOS flash memory is an important issue for the compatibility with scaled CMOS technology. With regard to the thickness-dependent property, trap-based erase behaviors should be investigated thoroughly because electron back-tunneling from gate make erase operation difficult. In this study, we focus on the characteristics of ONO structures to find out the thickness-dependence of trap-based erase property at several nanoscales.