A FinFET memory with remote carrier trapping in ONO buried insulator

Advanced FinFETs fabricated on SiO2–Si3N4–SiO2 (ONO) buried insulator are investigated for flash memory applications. Systematic measurements reveal that the Si3N4 layer can easily trap charges by applying appropriate drain bias. The amount of trapped/detrapped charges in the buried nitride is sensed remotely by gate coupling through the variation of the drain current flowing at the front-gate interface. The front-channel threshold voltage variation, ΔVTHF, resulting from the charge trapping, induces a hysteresis “window” proper to non-volatile memory devices. Finally, our measurements highlight the geometrical parameter effects on the memory window size.

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► Advanced FinFETs are fabricated on alternative buried insulator.
► FinFETs are investigated for flash memory application with remote charge trapping.
► The Si3N4 buried dielectric can trap charges by applying moderately high drain bias.
► Analog/logic and memory operations can be carried out within the same cell.
► The separation of the programing and the reading interface improves the reliability.