Charge trapping devices with field distribution layer over tunneling barrier
A memory cell comprising: a semiconductor substrate with a surface with a source region and a drain region disposed below the surface of the substrate and separated by a channel region; a tunneling barrier dielectric structure with an effective oxide thickness of greater than 3 nanometers disposed above the channel region; a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure and above the channel region; a charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer and above the channel region; a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure and above the channel region; and a top conductive layer disposed above the top dielectric structure and above the channel region are described along with devices thereof and methods for manufacturing.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/866,661 filed 21 Nov. 2006, and of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/866,589 filed 20 Nov. 2006.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to non-volatile memory devices, and in particular to flash memory cells and manufacturing of flash memory devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Flash memory technology includes memory cells that store charge between the channel and gate of a field effect transistor. The charge stored affects the threshold of the transistor, and the changes in threshold due to the stored charge can be sensed to indicate data.
One type of charge storage memory cell in widespread application is known as a floating gate memory cell. In a floating gate memory cell, a floating gate of conductive material such as polysilicon is formed over a tunnel dielectric, and an inter-poly dielectric is formed over the floating gate to isolate it from the word line or control gate of the memory cell. The geometry of the floating gate is engineered to establish a high coupling ratio for a voltage between the floating gate and channel, so that a voltage applied on the control gate will result in a stronger electric field across the tunnel dielectric than across the inter-poly dielectric. For example, floating gates are implemented using a T-shape or a U-shape, which results in a greater surface area between the control gate and the floating gate than between the floating gate and the channel, and thereby a greater capacitance between the floating gate and the control gate. Although this technology has been widely successful, as the sizes of the memory cells and the distances between them shrink, the floating gate technology starts to degrade because of interference between neighboring floating gates.
Another type of memory cell based on storing charge between the channel and gate of a field effect transistor uses a dielectric charge trapping structure. In this type of memory cell, a dielectric charge trapping structure is formed over a tunnel dielectric which isolates the dielectric charge trapping structure from the channel, and a top dielectric layer is formed over the charge trapping structure to isolate it from the word line or gate. A representative device is known as a silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon SONOS cell.
In memory cells using dielectric charge trapping structures, the device can be planar because there is no coupling ratio engineering involved in the design. Rather, the electric field when no charge is trapped in the charge trapping structure is equal in the tunneling dielectric and the top dielectric. Because of the planar structure, and very little coupling between adjacent cells, memory cells using dielectric charge trapping structures are forecast to overtake floating gate memory cells in importance as the minimum feature size for the manufacturing processes goes beyond about 45 nm.
It is found that even SONOS-type memory cells can suffer performance degradation as the minimum feature size goes below about 45 nm. In particular, non-uniform injection of charge along the channel width in the dielectric charge trapping structure due to the fringing fields can result in a region along the edge of the memory cell with effectively a low threshold voltage, while regions toward the center of the channel have an effectively high threshold. The low threshold region along the edge can result in performance degradation.
Therefore, it is desirable to maintain a more constant threshold voltage along the channel width dimension even if there is non-uniform charge concentration in the charge trapping structure along the channel width dimension.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to non-volatile memory devices, and more specifically to non-volatile memory devices including a conductive layer between a tunnel dielectric and a dielectric charge trapping structure, which may have a non-uniform distribution of trapped charge across the channel. The conductive layer distributes the electric field that is affected by the charge trapped in the dielectric charge trapping layer more uniformly across the channel, and results in a more constant threshold voltage beneath the conductive layer along the channel width dimension even if there is non-uniform charge concentration in the charge trapping structure along the channel width dimension.
Accordingly, an embodiment described herein includes a memory cell including a source region and a drain region near a surface of a substrate and separated by a channel region, a tunneling barrier dielectric structure disposed above the channel region with a thickness and dielectric characteristics sufficient to suppress direct tunneling to the charge trapping layer from the substrate by having an effective oxide thickness EOT greater than about 3 nanometers (where EOT is determined by the actual thickness of the material of the tunneling barrier dielectric structure scaled according to the ratio of the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide and the dielectric constant of the material), a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure covering the channel region at least partially, and preferably completely in the channel width dimension, and more preferably in both the channel width and channel length dimension, a dielectric charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer, a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure, and a top conductive layer disposed above the top dielectric structure. The conductive layer acts to counteract uneven charge distribution in the charge trapping layer by establishing an equipotential surface over the channel and over the tunnel dielectric, distributing the electric field affected by the charge trapped in the charge trapping layer.
In some embodiments the tunneling barrier dielectric structure comprises silicon dioxide or silicon oxynitride. In some embodiments the tunneling barrier dielectric structure comprises a bandgap engineered tunneling barrier structure. In some embodiments the bandgap engineered tunneling barrier structure comprises multiple layers, an example of which comprises a first silicon dioxide layer, a silicon nitride layer disposed above the first silicon dioxide layer, and a second silicon dioxide layer disposed above the silicon nitride layer. In embodiments described herein the tunneling barrier dielectric structure has negligible trapping efficiency.
The conductive layer can be doped polysilicon between 2 to 6 nanometers thick, or other similar conductive materials having conductivity sufficient to act to distribute the field over the channel region. The conductive layer is separated from other conductive materials in the device by insulating materials.
The charge trapping structure in various embodiments comprises silicon nitride, nano-particle embedded dielectrics, or other materials including “high-K” metal oxides like Al2O3, Hf2O3, etc. In some embodiments of the memory cell described herein, the charge trapping structure over the conductive layer comprises multiple layers, an example of which comprises a bottom dielectric layer and a charge trapping layer disposed above the bottom dielectric layer.
An integrated circuit memory device including cells implemented as described above is also described.
A method for manufacturing a memory cell as described herein comprises forming a tunneling barrier dielectric structure on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, forming a conductive layer on the tunneling barrier dielectric structure, forming a charge trapping structure on the conductive layer, forming a top dielectric structure on the charge trapping structure, forming a top conductive layer on the dielectric structure, and forming a source region and a drain region by implanting dopants in the semiconductor substrate, such that the source region and the drain region are separated by a channel, and the channel is below the tunneling barrier dielectric structure.
In certain embodiments a method of manufacturing includes forming a plurality of isolation structures of dielectric material between the memory cells.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention can be seen on review of the drawings, the detailed description and the claims, which follow.
A detailed description of various embodiments is provided with reference to
It is found that even SONOS-type memory cells can suffer performance degradation as the minimum feature size goes below about 45 nm. For example,
As illustrated in
The memory cell described herein having a conductive layer and dielectric charge trapping structure can be erased using a variety of biasing arrangements. For example, the cell can be biased to induce electron de-trapping from the charge trapping structure by Fowler Nordhiem tunneling through the bottom tunneling barrier dielectric layer, with a negative voltage applied between the gate and channel. In alternative embodiments, a biasing arrangement can be applied to induce substrate hole tunneling, particularly in the embodiment of
The channel regions of the cells implemented as shown in
The conductive layer 302 in the illustrated structure is substantially planar and has near equal areas on its top and bottom surfaces. The area of the conductive layer 302 is defined by the etching processes that set the spacing between the STI structures and the width of the word lines. Thus, the areas of the top and bottom surfaces of the conductive layer 302 are substantially equal to one another, and substantially equal to the product of the width of the word line and the spacing between the STI structures. Likewise, the area of the top contact for the cell in this embodiment is defined by the etching processes that set the spacing between the STI structures and the width of the word lines. Thus, the areas of the bottom surface of the word line acting as a top contact for the cell is substantially equal to the area of the top surface of the conductive layer, defined by the product of the width of the word line and the spacing between the STI structures.
As can be seen from the perspective view in
In representative embodiments manufactured with processes defining critical features less than 30 nm, has a length between the source and the drain of less than 30 nm, and a width orthogonal to the length of less than 30 nanometers, and wherein the multilayer stack has an effective oxide thickness of about 20 nm or less, and the channel region a width orthogonal to the length less than 1.5 times the effective oxide thickness of the multilayer stack.
In a representative embodiment, the channel width W of the memory cell is less than 45 nm. The effective oxide thickness of a memory cell is based on the dielectric layers in the charge trapping structure, and in one embodiment on the order of 15 to 25 nm. For memory cells having this structure, the channel width may be less than about 1.5 times of the effective oxide thickness of the memory cell calculated as the EOT of the combination of the tunneling barrier dielectric, the charge trapping structure and the top dielectric layer, and more preferably about equal to the effective oxide thickness for the memory cell. Embodiments having a channel width as low as 20 nm or less, and less than the EOT of the memory cells can be implemented using photo resist trimming techniques, phase shift masking, or other sub lithographic patterning technologies.
In certain embodiments, the memory cells can be configured in NAND arrays with channel widths less than 45 nm, and preferably on the order of the EOT of the multilayer stack. The thin conductive layer is above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure, and provides an equal-potential layer to make the electric field distribution even above the channel. The tunneling barrier dielectric structure can consist of a layer of silicon dioxide or silicon oxynitride. Alternatively, the tunneling barrier can consist of a multilayer structure. In embodiments of the memory cell described herein, the effective oxide thickness of the tunneling barrier dielectric structure, whether it is a single layer or multilayer structure, is greater than 3 nm thick, so that the conductive layer is not part of the tunneling barrier. The gate control capability is maintained for a very narrow channel width (W<EOT) device, providing device scaling below 20 nm channel width.
While the present invention is disclosed by reference to the preferred embodiments and examples detailed above, it is to be understood that these examples are intended in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense. It is to be understood and appreciated that that the fabrication steps and structures described herein do not cover a complete process flow for the manufacture of entire integrated circuits. The present invention may be practiced in conjunction with various integrated circuit fabrication techniques that are known in the art or to be developed. It is contemplated that modifications and combinations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, which modifications and combinations will be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A memory cell comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having a surface with a source region and a drain region in the substrate and separated by a channel region;
- a multilayer stack over the channel including a tunneling barrier dielectric structure with an effective oxide thickness of greater than 3 nanometers disposed on the surface of the substrate above the channel region, a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure and above the channel region, a dielectric charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer and above the channel region, and a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure and above the channel region; and
- a word line disposed above the top dielectric structure and above the channel region; wherein the conductive layer in the multilayer stack has an area over the channel region equal within manufacturing limitations to an area of the channel re ion beneath the word line and between the source and drain.
2. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the channel region has a length between the source and the drain, and a width orthogonal to the length of less than 45 nanometers.
3. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the multilayer stack has an effective oxide thickness and the channel region has a length between the source and the drain, and a width orthogonal to the length less than 1.5 times the effective oxide thickness of the multilayer stack.
4. A memory cell comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having a surface with a source region and a drain region in the substrate and separated by a channel region;
- a multilayer stack over the channel including a tunneling barrier dielectric structure with an effective oxide thickness of greater than 3 nanometers disposed on the surface of the substrate above the channel region, a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure and above the channel region, a dielectric charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer and above the channel region, and a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure and above the channel region; and
- a top conductive layer disposed above the top dielectric structure and above the channel region, wherein the channel region has a length between the source and the drain, and a width orthogonal to the length, and the conductive layer in the multilayer stack has a width that is substantially equal to the width of the channel region and has a length that is substantially equal to the length of the channel region, and
- wherein the conductive layer in the multilayer stack has a thickness less than 6 nanometers.
5. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the tunneling barrier dielectric structure comprises silicon dioxide.
6. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the tunneling barrier dielectric structure comprises silicon oxynitride.
7. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the tunneling barrier dielectric structure comprises a bandgap engineered tunneling barrier structure.
8. The memory cell of claim 7, wherein the conductive layer comprises doped semiconductor material.
9. A memory cell comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having a surface with a source region and a drain region in the substrate and separated by a channel region;
- a multilayer stack over the channel including a tunneling barrier dielectric structure with an effective oxide thickness of greater than 3 nanometers disposed on the surface of the substrate above the channel region, a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure and above the channel region, a dielectric charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer and above the channel region, and a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure and above the channel region; and
- a top conductive layer disposed above the top dielectric structure and above the channel region, wherein the conductive layer in the multilayer stack has a thickness less than 6 nanometers.
10. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer comprises metal.
11. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the charge trapping structure comprises silicon nitride.
12. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the charge trapping structure comprises a silicon dioxide layer and a silicon nitride layer disposed above the silicon dioxide layer.
13. A memory device comprising:
- an array of memory cells on a semiconductor substrate arranged in a plurality of NAND strings;
- the memory cells in the respective NAND strings being coupled in series, and comprising a source region and a drain region in the substrate and separated by a channel region, a tunneling barrier dielectric structure with an effective oxide thickness of greater than 3 nanometers disposed above the channel region, a conductive layer disposed above the tunneling barrier dielectric structure and above the channel region, a dielectric charge trapping structure disposed above the conductive layer and above the channel region, a top dielectric structure disposed above the charge trapping structure, and a top conductive layer disposed above the top dielectric structure and above the channel region;
- a row decoder;
- a column decoder;
- sense amplifiers;
- at least one input port;
- at least one output port;
- data-in structures; and
- bias arrangement state machine.
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Type: Grant
Filed: May 31, 2007
Date of Patent: Aug 16, 2011
Patent Publication Number: 20080116506
Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd. (Hsinchu)
Inventor: Hang-Ting Lue (Hsinchu)
Primary Examiner: Wai-Sing Louie
Attorney: Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld LLP
Application Number: 11/756,559
International Classification: H01L 29/788 (20060101);