Degradation of the Tunnel Oxide and the Endurance Characteristics of the NAND Flash Memory Due to Plasma CVD Charging-Up Damage

The effects of the passivation process conditions on the interface trap density at the tunnel oxide and the endurance characteristics upon 1E6 program/erase (P/E) cycling in the NAND type flash memory have been investigated. As the rf power level on plasma enhanced(PE) CVD of SiN increases, the interface trap density(Nit) at the tunnel oxide also increases and the endurance characteristics become degraded due to charging up damage induced by PECVD. A model to illustrate the charging up damage in thin oxides from the PECVD process is presented.