1 µs IV Characterization of Flash Memory Cells Using the B1530A Semiconductor Device Analyzer
Application Notes
Introduction
The proliferation of memory-intensive electronic devices such as MP3 music players, digital cameras, third-generation (3G) mobile phones and the gradual replacement of hard disk drives with solid state memory continue to drive growth in the lash memory market. This growth demands improvements in memory density in order to reduce the cost per bit. To meet the demands of both high densities and faster programming speeds, memory manufacturers are increasingly using multiple bit or multilevel cell (MLC) memory technologies.
Why do lash memory cells require high speed IV characterization?
MLCs require that multiple programming states exist within a limited voltage range. Therefore, accurate control of the threshold voltage (Vth) is necessary to maintain suficient margin between neighboring states so that the state of the memory cell can be read correctly (please see Figure 1).