Thermal Stress Analysis of Floating-Gate Tunneling Oxide Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory During Manufacturing Process

In this study, finite element modeling was used to evaluate the residual thermal stress in floating-gate tunneling oxide electrically erasable programmable read only memory (FLOTOX E²PROMs) manufacturing process. Special attention is paid to the tunnel oxide region, in which high field electron injection is the basis to E²PROMs operation. Calculated results show the presence of large stresses and stress gradients at the fringe: This may contribute to the invalidation of E²PROMs. A possible failure mechanism of E²PROM related to residual thermal stress-induced leakage is proposed.