In charge trap flash memories, charge is stored in a trapping material, typically a silicon-nitride layer, as current flows through a dielectric. In the programming process, electrons are emitted from the substrate towards the trapping layer due to a large positive bias applied to the gate. The current transport is the result of two different conduction mechanisms, to be considered in series: the current through the oxide is by tunneling, the conduction mechanism through the nitride is a Poole–Frenkel transport. The tunneling current is described by a modified Fowler-Nordheim tunneling equation, i.e. a tunneling equation that takes into account that the shape of the tunneling barrier is not triangular (as assumed for the Fowler-Nordheim formula derivation), but composed of the series of a trapezoidal barrier in the oxide, and a triangular barrier in the nitride. The Poole–Frenkel process is the limiting mechanism of conduction at the beginning of the memory programming regime due to the higher current provided by tunneling. As the trapped electron charge raises, beginning to screen the field, the modified Fowler-Nordheim tunneling becomes the limiting process. The trapped charge density at the oxide-nitride interface is proportional to the integral of the Poole–Frenkel current flowed across it. With an increasing number of memory write and erase cycles, retention characteristics worsen due to the increasing bulk conductivity in the nitride.