A Non-Volatile Embedded Memory for High Temperature Automotive and High-Retention Applications

• Main Authors: Thomas, M., Pathak, J., Payne, J., Leisenberger, F., Wachmann, E., Schatzberger, G., Wiesner, A., Schrems, M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automotive applications; Automotive engineering; CMOS technology; Computer systems organization > Embedded and cyber-physical systems; Computer systems organization > Real-time systems; Digital circuits; Hardware > Electronic design automation > Logic synthesis > Circuit optimization; Hardware > Integrated circuits > Semiconductor memory; Low voltage; Manufacturing industries; Memory architecture; Nonvolatile memory; Temperature distribution; Testing
• ISSN: 1948-3287; 1948-3295
• DOI: 10.1109/ISQED.2006.15

A highly reliable and scalable non-volatile embedded memory cell and technology is described. This embedded technology operates at very low power, and has minimal impact on the analog and digital components used in the SoC design. The main objective of this technology development was to achieve high reliability and high data retention for automotive applications over the extended temperature range from 40^O to 150^O C. A wider range, from -55^O to 180^O C, has been achieved in manufacturing. Full Cell, and memory module functionality, and data retention of over 30 years for the automotive temperature range have been achieved. Write cycling of over 200K writes (tested up to180^OC) over the design temperature range has also been achieved. The memory cell and the technology is optimized to operate at very low voltage and consume very low power. The applications requiring high data retention (\ge 50 years), over the industrial or automotive temperature range can be well served with this technology. The data confirms that this technology is a highly manufacturable and a reliable technology for the embedded Non-Volatile memory applications. The data presented is based on a 0.35ìm CMOS technology implementation.