Integration of CVD silicon nanocrystals in a 32Â Mb NOR flash memory

In this paper, silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) fabricated by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) are successfully integrated in a 32 Mb ATMEL NOR Flash memory product, processed in a 130 nm technology platform. Different Si-NC deposition conditions are explored and the threshold voltage distributions of the arrays are correlated to the Si-NC size/dispersion. Main reliability characteristics, as endurance and data-retention after cycling, are studied. Results obtained on large arrays are related to single cell characteristics. The large set of data measured on arrays clearly demonstrates the robustness of our process and integration scheme.