Influences of low-temperature postdeposition annealing on memory properties of Al/Al2O3/Al-rich Al-O/SiO2/p-Si charge trapping flash memory structures

Charge trapping flash (CTF) memory structure was fabricated on a SiO2/p-Si substrate using Al-rich Al-O as a charge trapping layer. Capacitance-voltage curves of the specimen indicated a large memory window width of 4.8V with a maximum operation voltage of 7V due to the charge trapping in the Al-rich Al-O layer. With N-2 postdeposition annealing treatment at 350 degrees C, charge retention characteristics of the CTF memory structure were drastically improved without any serious loss in charge trap density. Furthermore, the proposed structure showed excellent memory characteristics, such as endurance and stable data retention even at 100 degrees C. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.