Semiconductor memory device and method of operating the same

摘要

A semiconductor memory device and a method of operating the same are disclosed. The semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array configured to include memory cells, a peripheral circuit configured to perform an erase operation and a soft program operation and a control circuit configured to control the peripheral circuit so that the memory cells are programmed though a hot carrier injection HCI method when the soft program operation is performed.

主权项

1. A method of operating a semiconductor memory device, the method comprising:
increasing threshold voltage of memory cells corresponding to erase state by performing a soft program operation after an erase operation is finished, wherein the soft program operation is performed using a hot carrier injection HCI method by turning off a memory cell adjacent to a selected memory cell among the memory cells and boosting a channel of a string including the selected memory cell; verifying through a soft program verifying operation whether or not the threshold voltage of the memory cells is higher than a target threshold voltage; and performing again the soft program operation and following step in case that it is determined that the threshold voltage of the memory cells is smaller than the target threshold voltage according to the soft program verifying operation.