Characterizing Radiation and Stress-Induced Degradation in an Embedded Split-Gate NOR Flash Memory

Radiation and stress-induced degradation are characterized in split-gate NOR flash cells through a set of unique experiments. Radiation and program/erase stress on the bit cells is shown to create both positive and negative traps in the oxide around the floating gate cell. The annealing temperature following radiation determines the rate at which oxide traps are neutralized. To analyze both program/erase and radiation induced damage in greater detail; partial program and erase operations are performed. The implications of this work for both radiation hardness assurance testing and device reliability are discussed.