A 0.039um² high performance eDRAM cell based on 32nm high-K/metal SOI technology

Abstract

We present industry's smallest eDRAM cell and the densest embedded memory integrated into the highest performance 32nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) SOI based logic technology. The cell is aggressively scaled at 58% (vs. 45nm) and features the key innovation of High-K Metal (HK/M) stack in the Deep Trench (DT) capacitor. This has enabled 25% higher capacitance and 70% lower resistance compared to conventional SiON/Poly stack at matched leakage and reliability. The HKMG access transistor developed in high performance optimized technology features sub 3fA leakage and well-controlled threshold voltage sigma of 40mV. The fully integrated 32Mb product prototypes demonstrate state of the art performance with excellent retention and yield characteristics. The sub 1.5ns latency and 2ns cycle time have been verified with preliminary testing whereas even better performance is expected with further characterization. In addition, the trench capacitors set the industry benchmark for the most efficient decoupling in any 32nm technology. ©2010 IEEE.