The Effect of Tungsten Volume on Residual Stress and Cell Characteristics in MONOS

The effect of residual stress during the tungsten deposition process were investigated using metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor (MONOS) devices. The variation of residual stress due to tungsten volume was measured under tensile and compressive stress conditions. Residual stress increased in proportion to the deposition volume. Stress influenced the Si/SiO2 interface and caused deterioration of the electrical properties, which was experimentally observed during measurements of the interface trap densities and memory windows. We confirmed that residual stress led to degradation of the cell characteristics of MONOS devices, and the absolute value of stress significantly affected these issues regardless of the polarity. From our experiments results, we can predict the degradation of cell characteristics in memory devices, and confirm the need for appropriate stress control in manufacturing process.