Improved current filament control during Zener diode zapping

Abstract The filament-based failure is investigated in this work by experiment and 3D TCAD simulations in Zener diodes used as one-time-programmable (OTP) memories. Different zapping mechanisms with their inherent electrical and physical signatures are identified and elucidated. Moreover, a new trenched Zener structure is fabricated and tested in order to provide static current filaments as well as to minimize the power to generate them.