Nonvolatile semiconductor memory with temperature compensation for read/verify referencing scheme
US5864504A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 13, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jan 26, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 13, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11C16/28
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) capable of reducing the margin of threshold voltage is disclosed which contributes to the achievement of low-voltage driving and/or multiple-value data storage architectures. The EEPROM includes an array of memory cells that are changeable in threshold voltage for data storage of different logic levels, wherein data may be read out of any specified one of the memory cells. A read voltage applied to the memory cell is designed to have a temperature dependence substantially identical to that of the memory-cell threshold voltage. A write-verify voltage may also be designed to have the same temperature dependence as that of the memory cell. Thus, the inter-threshold margin and the read margins of the memory cell can be reduced.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.