R&D: Pure-Metal Replacement Gate for Reliable 30nm Pitch Scaled 3D NAND Flash
Demonstrates integration of Molybdenum as ‘a pure metal gate’ in record 30 nm z-pitch 3D NAND device by adopting barrierless replacement metal gate process.
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on September 5, 2024 at 2:00 pmIEEE Xplore has published, in 2024 IEEE International Memory Workshop (IMW) proceedings, an article written by S. Rachidi; S. Ramesh; D. Tierno; G. L. Donadio; A. Pacco; J. W. Maes; Y. Jeong; A. Arreghini; G. Van Den Bosch; and M. Rosmeulen, Imec, Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract: “We demonstrate the integration of Molybdenum as “a pure metal gate” in a record 30 nm z-pitch 3D NAND device by adopting a barrierless replacement metal gate (RMG) process. We also propose and demonstrate an in-memory-hole high-k (HK) liner to extend the 3D NAND Flash roadmap. In the new structure, the HK liner is placed inside the memory hole instead of the word-line (WL) cavity, thereby freeing up room for WL metal and enabling vertical scalability. Mo conductivity improves with a H 2 -only post metallization anneal. We report good channel control down to 15 nm Mo WL thickness. Superior retention is obtained for devices with Mo in combination with 2 nm HfO 2 liner. No impact of z-pitch scaling on reliability down to 30 nm pitch.“
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