Measurement system for a preliminary characterization of flash memory cells for multilevel applications

Author

Bucci, Giovanni ; Faccio, Marco ; Landi, Carmine ; Marotta, G.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ingegneria Elettrica, l´´Aquila Univ., Italy

Volume

47

Issue

5

fYear

1998

fDate

10/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1385

Lastpage

1390

Abstract

In this work a low-cost measurement system suitable for analog characterization of standard Flash memory cells is presented. Our aim, with this system, is to investigate the possibility of using standard cells for multilevel storage, to increase the bit density of conventional memory devices. Preliminary investigation was carried out by using a measurement system based on stand-alone instrumentation linked to a controller via IEEE 488 bus. The preliminary characterization results of the Texas Instruments TMS29FO40 4-Mbit Flash Memory show that it is feasible to store and retrieve information with four levels of injection charge in a single cell. Currently, a first multilevel test chip is under development. At the same time, a new measurement system, specifically suited to debug and test this special device, is under implementation

Keywords

automatic testing; flash memories; integrated circuit testing; 4 Mbit; IEEE 488 bus; Texas Instruments TMS29FO40; controller; flash memory cell; measurement system; multilevel storage; stand-alone instrumentation; Automatic testing; Control systems; Flash memory; Flash memory cells; Instruments; Measurement standards; Nonvolatile memory; Semiconductor device measurement; System testing; Threshold voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.746615

Filename

746615