Comprehensive understanding of charge lateral migration in 3D SONOS memories

The effects and mechanisms responsible for charge lateral migration in 3D SONOS devices are studied in detail. We evaluated the electron lateral migration at room temperature and at 150 °C in 3D SONOS devices. Through interpretation of measurements and simulations, we found that lateral migration shows similar emission rates of Poole-Frenkel effect and therefore it is linked to the same trap energy profile. This feature should be included in a model to properly simulate 3D SONOS retention transients. Further experiments and simulations show no influence of SiN thickness nor P/E cycles on lateral migration.