Analysis and reliability test to improve the data retention performance of EPROM circuits

Data retention lifetime is an important specification for the long term durability of EPROM circuits. While most of the published EPROM data retention results are based on empirical data, this paper presents an analytical approach which can be used to quantify EPROM data retention lifetime based on the circuit implementation. Two types of EPROM circuits are analyzed- a single transistor EPROM cell as well as a differential EPROM circuit. Using this new approach, the EPROM data retention performance is converted to a minimal residual gate charge requirement of the EPROM device which can then be used to directly compare and analyze the data retention performance of the EPROM circuits. The results of the analysis and comparison suggest that circuit implementation has great impact on EPROM data retention lifetime, and they also provide valuable insights on ways to improve the reliability of EPROM circuits. The analysis result of this paper on the differential EPROM circuit is further validated by wafer level reliability test (WLR) completed on an actual IC implementation, which suggests a good agreement between theoretical analysis and actual WLR data.