Impact of Cycling Induced Intercell Trapped Charge on Retention Charge Loss in 3-D NAND Flash Memory

As the 3D NAND technology developing toward more and more stack layers, it is essential to shrink the gate length (Lg) and inter-gate space (Ls). However, one of key concerns of scaling Lg/Ls 3D NAND flash is post-cycling data retention characteristics. The impact of cycling induced intercell trapped charge on two primary charge loss mechanisms (vertical and lateral charge loss) was studied in this work. According to experimental analysis and TCAD simulation, it is found that, in vertically scaled 3D NAND, the vertical charge loss is deteriorated not only by the cycling induced tunnel oxide degradation (introducing interface/oxide traps), but also by the cycling induced intercell trapped charge (enhancing word-lines edge electric field), on account of the enhanced Poole-Frenkel effect and tunneling effect. On the other hand, the cycling induced intercell trapped charge can also suppress lateral charge migration. Therefore, the vertical charge loss, rather than the lateral charge migration, still can be the dominant factor for post-cycling retention characteristics in scaling Lg/Ls 3D NAND flash memory.