Modeling of Apparent Activation Energy and Lifetime Estimation for Retention of 3D SGVC Memory

The retention of 3D NAND with single-gate vertical channel (SGVC) architecture is investigated in various temperatures. The dominated mechanisms include electron and hole discharging in the nitride storage layer and cap layer of blocking oxide respectively. The retention behavior of both electron and hole are well modeled by a simple and analytical stretched exponential form with different activation energy. Although the formula doesn't follow Arrhenius law with constant activation energy, the apparent activation energy, defined for a specific lifetime condition, is useful to calculate acceleration factor and define qualification conditions for retention.