Logic Non-volatile Memory: The Nvm Solutions For Ememory

The NVM Solutions from eMemory

Charles Ching-Hsiang Hsu, Yuan-Tai Lin, Evans Ching-Sung Yang, Rick Shih-Jye Shen

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9789814460927
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Science General
• Index: Biological Sciences

Would you like to add the capabilities of the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) as a storage element in your silicon integrated logic circuits, and as a trimming sector in your high voltage driver and other silicon integrated analog circuits? Would you like to learn how to embed the NVM into your silicon integrated circuit products to improve their performance?

This book is written to help you.

It provides comprehensive instructions on fabricating the NVM using the same processes you are using to fabricate your logic integrated circuits. We at our eMemory company call this technology the embedded Logic NVM. Because embedded Logic NVM has simple fabrication processes, it has replaced the conventional NVM in many traditional and new applications, including LCD driver, LED driver, MEMS controller, touch panel controller, power management unit, ambient and motion sensor controller, micro controller unit (MCU), security ID setting tag, RFID, NFC, PC camera controller, keyboard controller, and mouse controller. The recent explosive growth of the Logic NVM indicates that it will soon dominate all NVM applications. The embedded Logic NVM was invented and has been implemented in users' applications by the 200+ employees of our eMemory company, who are also the authors and author-assistants of this book.

This book covers the following Logic NVM products: One Time Programmable (OTP) memory, Multiple Times Programmable (MTP) memory, Flash memory, and Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM). The fundamentals of the NVM are described in this book, which include: the physics and operations of the memory transistors, the basic building block of the memory cells and the access circuits.

All of these products have been used continuously by the industry worldwide. In-depth readers can attain expert proficiency in the implementation of the embedded Logic NVM technology in their products.

Contents:

• Introduction:
  • What are Logic NVMs
  • When to Use Logic NVM
  • Why Use Logic NVM
  • Which Logic NVM is Better to Use
  • Where to Get the Logic NVM Platform
  • How to Use Logic NVM
• One Time Programmable (OTP) Memory:
  • OTP (NeoBit) Cell
  • Process Integration
  • Reliability
  • Design
  • Introduction for ESD Protection on Non-Volatile Memories
  • Test Flow and Characterization
  • Qualification
  • Application
  • IP Specifications
  • Multiple Times Programmable (MTP) Derivatives
  • OTP to ROM Conversion
• Flash:
  • Device
  • Process Integration
  • Reliability
  • Design
  • Test Flow and Characterization
  • Qualification
  • Applications
  • IP Specifications
  • Flash to ROM Conversion
• EEPROM:
  • Device
  • Process Integration
  • NeoEE Design Introduction
  • Characterization and Reliability
  • Applications
  • IP Specifications
• Non-Volatile Memory IP Foundry:
  • IP Developing Flow
  • IP Design and Layout Flow
  • IP Service Flow
  • IP Deliverables and Security
  • Intelligent System for IP Production

Readership: Advanced undergraduate students and graduate students in electrical, electronics, computer engineering, and physics departments; university researchers and teachers interested in NVM; device and process engineers; circuit designers; product engineers; reliability engineers; and engineering managers.
Key Features:

• The book covers innovative embedded non-volatile memory architectures that are compatible with existing logic processes
• The book is a new book in eNVM science field
• The book includes both academic and practical description for academics and technology

Chapter 1

Introduction

This monogram is intended to serve as an introductory text and reference book for readers to learn what is Logic Non-Volatile Memory (LNVM), when to use it, how to use it, and where to get it. This book also helps IC designers to use Logic NVM to improve their product performance and production yield, hence cost.

Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) is a silicon semiconductor basic building block (BBB) circuit containing a memory transistor and some logic transistors and RC circuits to read, write and erase the stored one-bit of data [1]. It has been widely used by silicon integrated circuit (IC) chip designers for data storage. Designers of electronic products usually use NVM embedded in the IC chip to store program instruction, identification and encryption data for security and protection considerations. In traditional embedded NVM’s, many additional processing steps are required to fabricate the NVM transistors using the logic circuit fabrication process, which significantly raise the costs for producing the embedded NVMs by Foundries and the costs of the products using embedded NVMs, severely limiting the widespread applications of the NVMs.

In 2002, our company, the eMemory Technology, introduced its Logic NVM solutions which add no extra fabrication mask or very few masks to the existing logic circuit fabrication processes. Consequently, the development cost of NVM embedded into the logic IC, using the fabrication processes of the logic IC, is greatly reduced. Therefore, increasing number of Foundries are able to offer logic circuit fabrication processes with NVM embedded inside the IC chip, As a result, the utilization of NVM has increased greatly in logic circuit designs.

In addition to the logic circuits, high voltage, mixed-mode, and radio-frequency (RF) circuits can also be easily fabricated with our Logic NVM technology. Due to the wide and easy adoption of the Logic NVM, new applications of NVM have been developed, such as trimming to improve the performance and yield of IC products.

Our products are grouped into the following four categories to help the readers to recognize their memory transistor and circuit operation principles and the terminologies. The historical and subsequent engineering usages of the descriptive were discussed in the Preface and the review literature [2]. For example, the 1971 “flash” for erase of the entire memory chip by flashes of ultraviolet (UV) light, has been extended to block erase by electrical means, such as tunneling, without light. The following categorizations provide the descriptions and definitions to correlate the trade usage with the device and circuit operation principles.

1. EPROM: Hot electron byte programming, UV erase; NeoBit is in this category.

2. Flash EPROM: Hot electron byte programming, FN tunneling block erase, NOR Flash, NeoFlash, and NeoMTP are in this category.

3. EEPROM: FN tunneling byte programming, FN tunneling byte erase; NeoEE is in this category.

4. Flash EEPROM: FN tunneling page programming, FN tunneling block erase, NAND Flash is in this category.

In this book, the memory transistor device type and its circuits, as well as its reliability and qualification, will be discussed in great details for three different Logic NVMs produced by eMemory: One Time Programmable (OTP) in Chapter 2, Flash in Chapter 3, and Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes the implementation procedures of using the embedded Logic NVM (eLNVM) both in chip fabrication at Foundries and in the design of fabrication processes at our company, the eMemory Technology.

1.1 What Are Logic NVMs

Logic NVM is the Non-Volatile Memory that can be fabricated concurrently with logic circuit fabrica...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 One Time Programmable (OTP) Memory
• Chapter 3 Flash
• Chapter 4 EEPROM
• Chapter 5 Non-Volatile Memory IP Foundry
• Index