Single Event Leakage Current in Flash memory

Abstract

Flash memories are the leader among nonvolatile memory technologies. Ionizing radiation impact their reliability both on the control circuitry and on the memory array itself. In particular, in FGs hit by ions the tracks of defects generated by ions in the tunnel oxide may result in a radiation induced leakage current (RILC), which can leads to retention problems in hit FGs. We are demonstrating and modeling this phenomenon in a state-of-the-art Floating Gate memory technology. We are also showing that RILC has a peculiar erratic behavior