High-Density Solid-State Memory Devices and Technologies

This Special Issue aims to examine high-density solid-state memory devices and technologies from various standpoints in an attempt to foster their continuous success in the future. Considering that broadening of the range of applications will likely offer different types of solid-state memories their chance in the spotlight, the Special Issue is not focused on a specific storage solution but rather embraces all the most relevant solid-state memory devices and technologies currently on stage. Even the subjects dealt with in this Special Issue are widespread, ranging from process and design issues/innovations to the experimental and theoretical analysis of the operation and from the performance and reliability of memory devices and arrays to the exploitation of solid-state memories to pursue new computing paradigms

Caractérisation, mécanismes et applications mémoire des transistors avancés sur SOI

Ce travail présente les principaux résultats obtenus avec une large gamme de dispositifs SOI avancés, candidats très prometteurs pour les futurs générations de transistors MOSFETs. Leurs propriétés électriques ont été analysées par des mesures systématiques, agrémentées par des modèles analytiques et/ou des simulations numériques. Nous avons également proposé une utilisation originale de dispositifs FinFETs fabriqués sur ONO enterré en fonctionnalisant le ONO à des fins d'application mémoire non volatile, volatile et unifiées. Après une introduction sur l'état de l'art des dispositifs avancés en technologie SOI, le deuxième chapitre a été consacré à la caractérisation détaillée des propriétés de dispositifs SOI planaires ultra- mince (épaisseur en dessous de 7 nm) et multi-grille. Nous avons montré l excellent contrôle électrostatique par la grille dans les transistors très courts ainsi que des effets intéressants de transport et de couplage. Une approche similaire a été utilisée pour étudier et comparer des dispositifs FinFETs à double grille et triple grille. Nous avons démontré que la configuration FinFET double grille améliore le couplage avec la grille arrière, phénomène important pour des applications à tension de seuil multiple. Nous avons proposé des modèles originaux expliquant l'effet de couplage 3D et le comportement de la mobilité dans des TFTs nanocristallin ZnO. Nos résultats ont souligné les similitudes et les différences entre les transistors SOI et à base de ZnO. Des mesures à basse température et de nouvelles méthodes d'extraction ont permis d'établir que la mobilité dans le ZnO et la qualité de l'interface ZnO/SiO2 sont remarquables. Cet état de fait ouvre des perspectives intéressantes pour l'utilisation de ce type de matériaux aux applications innovantes de l'électronique flexible. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous nous sommes concentrés sur le comportement de la mobilité dans les dispositifs SOI planaires et FinFET en effectuant des mesures de magnétorésistance à basse température. Nous avons mis en évidence expérimentalement un comportement de mobilité inhabituel (multi-branche) obtenu lorsque deux ou plusieurs canaux coexistent et interagissent. Un autre résultat original concerne l existence et l interprétation de la magnétorésistance géométrique dans les FinFETs.L'utilisation de FinFETs fabriqués sur ONO enterré en tant que mémoire non volatile flash a été proposée dans le quatrième chapitre. Deux mécanismes d'injection de charge ont été étudiés systématiquement. En plus de la démonstration de la pertinence de ce type mémoire en termes de performances (rétention, marge de détection), nous avons mis en évidence un comportement inattendu : l amélioration de la marge de détection pour des dispositifs à canaux courts. Notre concept innovant de FinFlash sur ONO enterré présente plusieurs avantages: (i) opération double-bit et (ii) séparation de la grille de stockage et de l'interface de lecture augmentant la fiabilité et autorisant une miniaturisation plus poussée que des Finflash conventionnels avec grille ONO.Dans le dernier chapitre, nous avons exploré le concept de mémoire unifiée, en combinant les opérations non volatiles et 1T-DRAM par le biais des FinFETs sur ONO enterré. Comme escompté pour les mémoires dites unifiées, le courant transitoire en mode 1T-DRAM dépend des charges non volatiles stockées dans le ONO. D'autre part, nous avons montré que les charges piégées dans le nitrure ne sont pas perturbées par les opérations de programmation et lecture de la 1T-DRAM. Les performances de cette mémoire unifiée multi-bits sont prometteuses et pourront être considérablement améliorées par optimisation technologique de ce dispositif.The evolution of electronic systems and portable devices requires innovation in both circuit design and transistor architecture. During last fifty years, the main issue in MOS transistor has been the gate length scaling down. The reduction of power consumption together with the co-integration of different functions is a more recent avenue. In bulk-Si planar technology, device shrinking seems to arrive at the end due to the multiplication of parasitic effects. The relay has been taken by novel SOI-like device architectures. In this perspective, this manuscript presents the main achievements of our work obtained with a variety of advanced fully depleted SOI MOSFETs, which are very promising candidates for next generation MOSFETs. Their electrical properties have been analyzed by systematic measurements and clarified by analytical models and/or simulations. Ultimately, appropriate applications have been proposed based on their beneficial features.In the first chapter, we briefly addressed the short-channel effects and the diverse technologies to improve device performance. The second chapter was dedicated to the detailed characterization and interesting properties of SOI devices. We have demonstrated excellent gate control and high performance in ultra-thin FD SOI MOSFET. The SCEs are efficiently suppressed by decreasing the body thickness below 7 nm. We have investigated the transport and electrostatic properties as well as the coupling mechanisms. The strong impact of body thickness and temperature range has been outlined. A similar approach was used to investigate and compare vertical double-gate and triple-gate FinFETs. DG FinFETs show enhanced coupling to back-gate bias which is applicable and suitable for dynamic threshold voltage tuning. We have proposed original models explaining the 3D coupling effect in FinFETs and the mobility behavior in ZnO TFTs. Our results pointed on the similarities and differences in SOI and ZnO transistors. According to our low-temperature measurements and new promoted extraction methods, the mobility in ZnO and the quality of ZnO/SiO2 interface are respectable, enabling innovating applications in flexible, transparent and power electronics. In the third chapter, we focused on the mobility behavior in planar SOI and FinFET devices by performing low-temperature magnetoresistance measurements. Unusual mobility curve with multi-branch aspect were obtained when two or more channels coexist and interplay. Another original result in the existence of the geometrical magnetoresistance in triple-gate and even double-gate FinFETs.The operation of a flash memory in FinFETs with ONO buried layer was explored in the forth chapter. Two charge injection mechanisms were proposed and systematically investigated. We have discussed the role of device geometry and temperature. Our novel ONO FinFlash concept has several distinct advantages: double-bit operation, separation of storage medium and reading interface, reliability and scalability. In the final chapter, we explored the avenue of unified memory, by combining nonvolatile and 1T-DRAM operations in a single transistor. The key result is that the transient current, relevant for 1T-DRAM operation, depends on the nonvolatile charges stored in the nitride buried layer. On the other hand, the trapped charges are not disturbed by the 1T-DRAM operation. Our experimental data offers the proof-of-concept for such advanced memory. The performance of the unified/multi-bit memory is already decent but will greatly improve in the coming years by processing dedicated devices.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Advanced modeling for end-of-the-roadmap CMOS and potential beyond-CMOS applications

End-of-the-roadmap CMOS devices are explored via particle-based ensemble semi-classical Monte Carlo (MC) methods employing quantum corrections (QCs) to address quantum confinement and degenerate carrier populations. The significance of such QCs is illustrated through simulation of n-channel III-V and Si FinFETs. Original contributions include our treatment of far-from-equilibrium degenerate statistics and QC-based modeling of surface-roughness scattering, as well as considering quantum-confined phonon and ionized-impurity scattering in 3D. Typical MC simulations approximate degenerate carrier populations as Fermi distributions to model the Pauli-blocking (PB) of scattering to occupied final states. To allow for increasingly far-from-equilibrium non-Fermi carrier distributions in ultra-scaled and III-V devices, we instead generate the final-state occupation probabilities used for PB by sampling the local carrier populations as a function of energy and energy valley. This process is aided by the use of fractional carriers or sub-carriers, which minimizes classical carrier-carrier scattering. Quantum confinement effects are addressed through quantum-correction potentials (QCPs) generated from coupled Schrödinger-Poisson solvers, as commonly done. However, we use our valley- and orientation-dependent QCPs not just to redistribute carriers in real space, or even among energy valleys, but also to calculate confinement-dependent phonon, ionized-impurity, and surface-roughness scattering rates. Collectively, these quantum effects can substantially reduce and even eliminate otherwise expected benefits of considered InGaAs FinFETs over otherwise identical Si FinFETs, despite higher thermal velocities in InGaAs. Beyond-CMOS device concepts are also being considered for future applications. Thin-film sub-5 nm magnetic skyrmions constitute an ultimate scaling alternative for beyond-CMOS data storage technologies. These robust non-collinear spin-textures can be moved and manipulated by spin-polarized or non-spin-polarized electrical currents, which is extremely attractive for integration with current memory technologies. An innovative technique to detect isolated nano-skyrmions with a current-perpendicular-to-plane is shown, which has immediate implications for device concepts. Such a mechanism is explored by studying the atomistic electronic structure of the magnetic quasiparticles. The tunneling conductance is quite sensitive to spatial variations in the electronic structure, as a large atomistic conductance anisotropy up to 20 is found for magnetic skyrmions in Pd/Fe/Ir(111) magnetic thin-films. This spin-mixing magnetoresistance effect possibly could be incorporated in future magnetic storage technologies.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Through Silicon Via Field-Effect Transistor with Hafnia-based Ferroelectrics and the Doping of Silicon by Gallium Implantation Utilizing a Focused Ion Beam System

3-dimensional integration has become a standard to further increase the transistor density and to enhance the integrated functionality in microchips. Integrated circuits are stacked on top of each other and copper-filled through-silicon VIAs (TSVs) are the industry-accepted choice for their vertical electrical connection. The aim of this work is to functionalize the TSVs by implementing vertical field-effect transistors inside the via holes. The front and back sides of 200 ... 300 µm thin silicon wafers were doped to create the source/drain regions of n- and p-FETs. The TSVFETs showed very stable saturation currents and on/off current ratios of about 10^6 (n-TSVFET) and 10^3 (p-TSVFET) for a gate voltage magnitude of 4V. The use of hafnium zirconium oxide on a thin SiO_2 interface layer as gate dielectric material in a p-TSVFET, enabled the implementation of a charge trapping memory inside the TSVs, showing a memory window of about 1V. This allows the non-volatile storage of the transistor on/off state. In addition, the demonstration of the use of gallium as the source/drain dopant in planar p-FET test structures (ion implanted from a focused ion beam tool) paves the way for maskless doping and for a process flow with a low thermal budget. It was shown, that ion implanted gallium can be activated and annealed at relatively low temperatures of 500 °C ... 700 °C.:Abstract / Kurzzusammenfassung Danksagung Index I List of Figures III List of Tables X List of Symbols XI List of Abbreviations XV 1 Introduction 1 2 Fundamentals 5 2.1 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) 5 2.1.1 Historical Development - Technological Advancements 7 2.1.2 Field-Effect Transistors in Semiconductor Memories 10 2.2 3D Integration and the Use of TSVs (Through Silicon VIAs) 16 2.3 Doping of Silicon 19 2.3.1 Doping by Thermal Diffusion 20 2.3.2 Doping by Ion Implantation 22 3 Electrical Characterization 24 3.1 Resistivity Measurements 24 3.1.1 Resistance Determination by Four-Point Probes Measurement 24 3.1.2 Contact Resistivity 27 3.1.3 Doping Concentration 32 3.2 C-V Measurements 35 3.2.1 Fundamentals of MIS C-V Measurements 35 3.2.2 Interpretation of C-V Measurements 37 3.3 Transistor Measurements 41 3.3.1 Output Characteristics (I_D-V_D) 41 3.3.2 Transfer Characteristics (I_D-V_G) 42 4 TSV Transistor 45 4.1 Idea and Motivation 45 4.2 Design and Layout of the TSV Transistor 47 4.2.1 Design of the TSV Transistor Structures 47 4.2.2 Test Structures for Planar FETs 48 5 Variations in the Integration Scheme of the TSV Transistor 51 5.1 Doping by Diffusion from Thin Films 51 5.1.1 Determination of Doping Profiles 52 5.1.2 n- and p- TSVFETs Doped Manufactures by the Use of the Diffusion Technique 59 5.2 Ferroelectric Hafnium-Zirconium-Oxide (HZO) in the Gate Stack 81 5.2.1 Planar ferroelectric p-MOSFETs Doped by Thermal Diffusion 82 5.2.2 p-TSVFETs with Hafnium-Zirconium-Oxide Metal Gate 90 5.3 Doping by Ion Implantation of Gallium with a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Tool 96 5.3.1 Ga doped Si Diodes 97 5.3.2 Planar p-MOSFETs Doped by Ga Implantation 108 5.3.3 Proposal for a parallel integration of Cu TSVs and p-TSVFETs 117 6 Summary and Outlook 120 Bibliography XVIII A Appendix XXXVI A.1 Resistivity and Dopant Density XXXVI A.2 Mask set for the TSVFET XXXVII A.3 Mask Design of the Planar Test Structures XXXVIII Curriculum Vitae XXXIX List of Scientific Publications XL

Oxygen-insertion Technology for CMOS Performance Enhancement

Until 2003, the semiconductor industry followed Dennard scaling rules to improve complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistor performance. However, performance gains with further reductions in transistor gate length are limited by physical effects that do not scale commensurately with device dimensions: short-channel effects (SCE) due to gate-leakage-limited gate-oxide thickness scaling, channel mobility degradation due to enhanced vertical electric fields, increased parasitic resistances due to reductions in source/drain (S/D) contact area, and increased variability in transistor performance due to random dopant fluctuation (RDF) effects and gate work function variations (WFV). These emerging scaling issues, together with increased process complexity and cost, pose severe challenges to maintaining the exponential scaling of transistor dimensions. This dissertation discusses the benefits of oxygen-insertion (OI) technology, a CMOS performance booster, for overcoming these challenges. The benefit of OI technology to mitigate the increase in sheet resistance ($R_{sh}$) with decreasing junction depth ($X_J$) for ultra-shallow-junctions (USJs) relevant for deep-sub-micron planar CMOS transistors is assessed through the fabrication of $R_{sh}$ test structures, electrical characterization, and technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations. Experimental and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analyses indicate that OI technology can facilitate low-resistivity USJ formation by reducing $R_{sh}$ and $X_J$ due to retarded transient-enhanced-diffusion (TED) effects and enhanced dopant retention during post-implantation thermal annealing. It is also shown that a low-temperature-oxide (LTO) capping can increase $R_{sh}$ unfavorably due to lower dopant activation levels, which can be alleviated by OI technology. This dissertation extends the evaluation of OI technology to advanced FinFET technology, targeting 7/8-nm low power technology node. A bulk-Si FinFET design comprising a super-steep retrograde (SSR) fin channel doping profile achievable with OI technology is studied by three-dimensional (3-D) TCAD simulations. As compared with the conventional bulk-Si (control) FinFET design with a heavily-doped fin channel doping profile, SSR FinFETs can achieve higher $I_{on}/I_{off}$ ratios and reduce the sensitivity of device performance to variations due to the lightly doped fin channel. As compared with the SOI FinFET design, SSR FinFETs can achieve similarly low $V_{DD,min}$ for 6T-SRAM cell yield estimation. Both SSR and SOI design can provide for as much as 100 mV reduction in $V_{DD,min}$ compared with the control FinFET design. Overall, the SSR FinFET design that can be achieved with OI technology is demonstrated to be a cheaper alternative to the SOI FinFET technology for extending CMOS scaling beyond the 10-nm node. Finally, this dissertation investigates the benefits of OI technology for reducing the Schottky barrier height ($\Phi_{Bp}$) of a Pt/Ti/p-type Si metal-semiconductor (M/S) contact, which can be expected to help reduce the specific contact resistivity for a p-type silicon contact. Electrical measurements of back-to-back Schottky diodes, SIMS, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) show that the reduction in $\Phi_{Bp}$ is associated with enhanced Ti 2p and Si 2p core energy level shifts. OI technology is shown to favor low-$\Phi_{Bp}$ Pt monosilicide formation during forming gas anneal (FGA) by suppressing the grain boundary diffusion of Pt atoms into the crystalline Si substrate

Scaling and intrinsic parameter fluctuations in nanoCMOS devices

The core of this thesis is a thorough investigation of the scaling properties of conventional nano-CMOS MOSFETs, their physical and operational limitations and intrinsic parameter fluctuations. To support this investigation a well calibrated 35 nm physical gate length real MOSFET fabricated by Toshiba was used as a reference transistor. Prior to the start of scaling to shorter channel lengths, the simulators were calibrated against the experimentally measured characteristics of the reference device. Comprehensive numerical simulators were then used for designing the next five generations of transistors that correspond to the technology nodes of the latest International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (lTRS). The scaling of field effect transistors is one of the most widely studied concepts in semiconductor technology. The emphases of such studies have varied over the years, being dictated by the dominant issues faced by the microelectronics industry. The research presented in this thesis is focused on the present state of the scaling of conventional MOSFETs and its projections during the next 15 years. The electrical properties of conventional MOSFETs; threshold voltage (VT), subthreshold slope (S) and on-off currents (lon, Ioffi ), which are scaled to channel lengths of 35, 25, 18, 13, and 9 nm have been investigated. In addition, the channel doping profile and the corresponding carrier mobility in each generation of transistors have also been studied and compared. The concern of limited solid solubility of dopants in silicon is also addressed along with the problem of high channel doping concentrations in scaled devices. The other important issue associated with the scaling of conventional MOSFETs are the intrinsic parameter fluctuations (IPF) due to discrete random dopants in the inversion layer and the effects of gate Line Edge Roughness (LER). The variations of the three important MOSFET parameters (loff, VT and Ion), induced by random discrete dopants and LER have been comprehensively studied in the thesis. Finally, one of the promising emerging CMOS transistor architectures, the Ultra Thin Body (UTB) SOl MOSFET, which is expected to replace the conventional MOSFET, has been investigated from the scaling point of view

Random dopants and low-frequency noise reduction in deep-submicron MOSFET technology

The future of mixed-signal, memory, and microprocessor technologies are dependent on ever increasing analog and digital integration, higher cell densities, and demand for more processing power. As a result MOSFET device dimensions continue to shrink to meet these demands. A side effect of device scaling is increased variability at each technological node which affects both analog and digital circuits in terms of decreased yields, performance, and noise margins. At deep sub-micron dimensions the Low-Frequency Noise (LFN) of the MOSFET is dominated by the influence of one or more active traps capturing and emitting charge to and from the oxide creating wide variations in the LFN from otherwise identical devices. Additionally, the random position of dopant atoms near the Si/SiO₂ interface create a potential landscape that induces regions of high and low conductivity which in turn causes a situation where the current is no longer uniform in the device, but consist of individual current paths or percolating currents. The coupling between the random variation of the percolation current and active traps in the oxide are responsible for the large spread ( > 3 orders of magnitude) in the noise characteristics observed in deep sub-micron MOSFET devices. The compact LFN model presented here accounts for the action of traps on percolating currents in deep-sub-micron and nano-scale MOSFETs. Two schemes for reduction of LFN are studied based on the smoothing of the surface potential. First, noise reduction is demonstrated with measurements on sub-micron MOSFETs with forward substrate bias. Secondly, the model is further verified through the reduction of noise by the removal of dopant atoms near the Si/SiO₂ interface of the device. Both schemes result in a lower noise and threshold device. Finally, these experimental findings are applied to a 2.2μm 2 MP CMOS image sensor. From the temporal noise measurements on threshold implant process splits, the image sensor noise has been significantly reduced as a direct result of fundamentals described by this MOSFET LFN model and further proves the validity of these findings.Keywords: Low-Frequency Noise, MOSFET, sub-micron, RT

A Study of Nanometer Semiconductor Scaling Effects on Microelectronics Reliability

The desire to assess the reliability of emerging scaled microelectronics technologies through faster reliability trials and more accurate acceleration models is the precursor for further research and experimentation in this relevant field. The effect of semiconductor scaling on microelectronics product reliability is an important aspect to the high reliability application user. From the perspective of a customer or user, who in many cases must deal with very limited, if any, manufacturer's reliability data to assess the product for a highly-reliable application, product-level testing is critical in the characterization and reliability assessment of advanced nanometer semiconductor scaling effects on microelectronics reliability. This dissertation provides a methodology on how to accomplish this and provides techniques for deriving the expected product-level reliability on commercial memory products. Competing mechanism theory and the multiple failure mechanism model are applied to two separate experiments; scaled SRAM and SDRAM products. Accelerated stress testing at multiple conditions is applied at the product level of several scaled memory products to assess the performance degradation and product reliability. Acceleration models are derived for each case. For several scaled SDRAM products, retention time degradation is studied and two distinct soft error populations are observed with each technology generation: early breakdown, characterized by randomly distributed weak bits with Weibull slope Beta=1, and a main population breakdown with an increasing failure rate. Retention time soft error rates are calculated and a multiple failure mechanism acceleration model with parameters is derived for each technology. Defect densities are calculated and reflect a decreasing trend in the percentage of random defective bits for each successive product generation. A normalized soft error failure rate of the memory data retention time in FIT/Gb and FIT/cm2 for several scaled SDRAM generations is presented revealing a power relationship. General models describing the soft error rates across scaled product generations are presented. The analysis methodology may be applied to other scaled microelectronic products and key parameters

Novel 3-D IC technology

textFor many decades silicon based CMOS technology has made continual increase in drive current to achieve higher speed and lower power by scaling the gate length and the gate insulator thickness. The scaling becomes increasingly challenging because the devices are approaching physical quantum limits. Three-dimensional electronic devices, such as double gate, tri-gate and nanowire field-effect-transistors (FETs) provide an alternative solution because the ultra-thin fin or nanowire provides better electrostatic control of the device channel. Also high-[kappa] oxides lower the gate leakage current significantly, due to larger thickness for the same equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) compared with SiO₂ beyond the 22 nm node. Moreover, metal gate that avoids the poly-depletion effect in poly-Si gate has become mainstream semiconductor technology. The enabler technologies for high-[kappa] / metal gate 3D transistors include fabrication of high quality, vertical nanowire arrays, conformal metal and dielectric deposition and vertical patterning. One of the main focuses of this dissertation is developing a fabrication process flow to realize high performance MOSFETs with high-[kappa] oxide and metal gate on vertical silicon nanowire arrays. A variety of approaches to fabricating highly ordered silicon nanowire arrays have been achieved. Deep silicon etching process was developed and optimized for nanowire FETs. Process integration and patterning mythologies for high-[kappa] / metal gate were investigated and accomplished. 3-D electronic devices including nanowire capacitors, nanowire FETs and double gate MOSFETs for power applications were fabricated and characterized. The second part of this dissertation is about flexible electronics. Mechanically flexible integrated circuits (ICs) have gained increasing attention in recent years with emerging markets in portable electronics. Although a number of thin-film-transistor (TFT) IC solutions have been reported, challenges still remain for fabrication of inexpensive, high performance flexible devices. We report a simple and straightforward solution: mechanically exfoliating a thin Si film containing ICs. Transistors and circuits can be pre-fabricated on bulk silicon wafer with conventional CMOS process flow without additional temperature or process limitations. The short channel MOSFETs exhibit similar electrical performance before and after exfoliation. This exfoliation process also provides a fast and economical approach to produce thinned silicon wafers, which is a key enabler for three-dimensional (3D) silicon integration based on Through Silicon Vias (TSVs).Electrical and Computer Engineerin