• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.283-287
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• 2002

To remedy both the degradation and saturation of the output voltages in the modified Dickson pump. a new multi-stage charge pump circuit is presented in this paper. Here using PMOS charge-transfer switches instead of NMOS ones eliminates the necessity of diode-configured output stage in the modified-Dickson pump, achieving the improved voltage pumping gain and its output voltages proportional to the stage numbers. Measurement indicates that VOUT/3VDD of this new pump circuit with two stages reaches to a value as high as 0.94 even with low VDD=1.0 V, strongly addressing that this scheme is very favorable at low-voltage memory applications.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1017-1021
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• 2007

To implement tera bit level non-volatile memories of low power and fast operation, proving statistical reproductivity and satisfying reliabilities at the nano-scale are a key challenge. We fabricate the charge trapping nano scaled SONOS unit memories and 64 bit flash arrays and evaluate reliability and performance of them. In case of the dielectric stack thickness of 4.5 /9.3 /6.5 nm with the channel width and length of 34 nm and 31nm respectively, the device has about 3.5 V threshold voltage shift with write voltage of $10\;{\mu}s$, 15 V and erase voltage of 10 ms, -15 V. And retention and endurance characteristics are above 10 years and $10^5$ cycle, respectively. The device with LDD(Lightly Doped Drain) process shows reduction of short channel effect and GIDL(Gate Induced Drain Leakage) current. Moreover we investigate three different types of flash memory arrays.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.35-35
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• 2003

Recent progress in the integration of the ferroelectric random access memories (FRAM) has attracted much interest. Strontium bismuth tantalate(SBT) is one of the most attractive materials for use in nonvolatile-memory applications due to low-voltage operations, low leakage current, and its excellent fatigue-free property. High-density FRAMs operated at a low voltage below 1.5V are applicable to mobile devices operated by battery. SBT films thinner than 0.1 #m can be operated at a low voltage, because the coercive voltage (Vc) decreases as the film thickness is reduced. In addition, the thickness of the SBT film will have to be reduced so it can fit between adjacent storage nodes in a pedestal type capacitor in future FRAMs.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1993.07b
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• pp.1265-1267
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• 1993

The switching and the retention characteristics with the injection conditions(pulse height and pulse width) were investigated in the nonvolatile MNOS memories with thin oxide layer of $23{\AA}$ thick. The shift of flatband voltage was measured using the fast ramp C-V method and experimental results were analized using the previously developed models. It was shown that the experimental results were described quit well by the trap-assisted and modified Fowler-Nordheim tunneling models for the voltage pulse of $15V{\sim}19V,\;24V{\sim}25V$, respectively. However, the direct tunneling model was agreement with experimental values in all range of pulse height. As increasing the initial shift of the flatband voltage, the decay rate was increased. But for the same initial shift of the flatband voltage, the decay rate was smaller for low and long pulse than for high and short one.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.375-378
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• 2013

A reference voltage generator which is insensitive to PVT (process-voltage-temperature) variation necessary for NVM memory IPs such as EEPROM and MTP memories is designed in this paper. The designed BGR (bandgap reference voltage) circuit based on MagnaChip's $0.18{\mu}m$ EEPROM process uses a low-voltage bandgap reference voltage generator of cascode current-mirror type with a wide swing and shows a reference voltage characteristic insensitive to PVT variation. The minimum operating voltage is 1.43V and the VREF sensitivity against VDD variation is 0.064mV/V. Also, the VREF sensitivity against temperature variation is $20.5ppm/^{\circ}C$. The VREF voltage has a mean of 1.181V and its three sigma ($3{\sigma}$) value is 71.7mV.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.369-372
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• 2002

To remedy both the degradation and saturation of the output voltages in the modified Dickson pump, a new multistage charge pump circuit is presented in this paper. Here using PMOS charge-transfer switches instead of NMOS ones eliminates the necessity of diode-configured output stage in the modified-Dickson pump, achieving the improved voltage pumping gain and its output voltages proportional to the stage numbers. Measurement indicates that VOUT/3VDD of this new pump circuit with two stages reaches to a value as high as 0.94V even with low VDD=1.0 V, strongly addressing that this scheme is very favorable at low-voltage memory applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.233-233
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• 2010

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM), based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and CMOS, is a prominent candidate among prospective semiconductor memories because it can provide nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage and high storage density. The etching of MTJ stack with good properties is one of a key process for the realization of high density MRAM. In order to achieve high quality MTJ stack, the use of CoFeB and IrMn magnetic films as free layers was proposed. In this study, inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching of CoFeB and IrMn thin films masked with Ti hard mask was investigated in a $Cl_2$/Ar gas mix. The etch rate of CoFeB and IrMn films were examined on varying $Cl_2$ gas concentration. As the $Cl_2$ gas increased, the etch rate monotonously decreased. The effective of etch parameters including coil rf power, dc-bais voltage, and gas pressure on the etch profile of CoFeB and IrMn thin film was explored, At high coil rf power, high dc-bais voltage, low gas pressure, the etching of CoFeB and IrMn displayed better etch profiles. Finally, the clean and vertical etch sidewall of CoFeB and IrMn free layers can be achieved by means of thin Ti hard mask in a $Cl_2$/Ar plasma at the optimized condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.213-213
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• 2010

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM), based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and CMOS, is one of the best semiconductor memories because it can provide nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage and high storage density. For the realization of high density MRAM, the etching of MTJ stack with good properties is one of a key process. Recently, there has been great interest in the MTJ stack using MgO as barrier layer for its huge room temperature MR ratio. The use of MgO barrier layer will undoubtedly accelerate the development of MTJ stack for MRAM. In this study, high-density plasma reactive ion etching of MgO films was investigated in an inductively coupled plasma of $Cl_2$/Ar gas mixes. The etch rate, etch selectivity and etch profile of this magnetic film were examined on vary gas concentration. As the $Cl_2$ gas concentration increased, the etch rate of MgO monotonously decreased and etch slop was slanted. The effective of etch parameters including coil rf power, dc-bais voltage, and gas pressure on the etch profile of MgO thin film was explored, At high coil rf power, high dc-bais voltage, low gas pressure, the etching of MgO displayed better etch profiles. Finally, the clean and vertical etch sidewall of MgO films was achieved using $Cl_2$/Ar plasma at the optimized etch conditions.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2004.06b
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• pp.469-472
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• 2004

In this paper a current mode sense amplifier suitable for 30nm SONOS flash memories read operation is presented. The proposed sense amplifier employs cross coupled latch type circuit and current mirror to amplify signal from selected memory cell. This sense amplifier provides fast response in low voltage and low current dissipation. Simulation results show the sensing delay time and current dissipation for power supply voltages Vdd to expose limitations of the sense amplifier in various operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics B
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• v.33B no.7
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• pp.70-79
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• 1996

To increase the functionality of the memories, previous studies have deifned faults models and proposed functional testing algorithms with low complexity. Although conventional testing depended strongly on functional (voltage) testing method, it couldn't detect short and open defects caused by gate oxide short and spot defect which can afect memory reliability. Therefore, IDDQ (quiescent power supply current) testing is required to detect defects and thus can obtain high reliability. In this paper, we consider resistive shorts on gate-source, gate-drain, and drain-source as well as opens in mOS FET and observe behavior of the memory by analyzing voltage at storge nodes of the memory and IDDQ resulting from PSPICE simulation. Finally, using this behavioral analysis, we propose a linear testing algorithm of complexity O(N) which can be applicable to both functional testing and IDDQ testing simultaneously to obtain high functionality and reliability.