A new two-trap tunneling model for the anomalous stress-induced leakage current (SILC) in Flash memories

We present new experimental and numerical results on the leakage current in Flash cells after cycling, showing that two markedly different behaviors can be identified. Most tail cells show a leakage current that can be successfully described by single-trap tunneling. However, the unstable and very high leakage exhibited by a few anomalous cells requires a different explanation. An improved physical model including two-trap tunneling processes can account for the large current enhancement in the anomalous cells, as well as explaining for the first time their asymmetric and erratic behavior.