• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 2009

Evaluation results about area scaling capabilities of various SRAM margin-assist techniques for random $V_T$ variability issues are described. Various efforts to address these issues by not only the cell topology changes from 6T to 8T and 10T but also incorporating multiple voltage-supply for the cell terminal biasing and timing sequence controls of read and write are comprehensively compared in light of an impact on the required area overhead for each design solution given by ever increasing $V_T$ variation (${\sigma}_{VT}$). Two different scenarios which hinge upon the EOT (Effective Oxide Thickness) scaling trend of being pessimistic and optimistic, are assumed to compare the area scaling trends among various SRAM solutions for 32 nm process node and beyond. As a result, it has been shown that 6T SRAM will be allowed long reign even in 15 nm node if ${\sigma}_{VT}$ can be suppressed to < 70 mV thanks to EOT scaling for LSTP (Low Standby Power) process.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.337-341
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• 2024

As the production process for silicon-based integrated circuits approaches physical limits, a lot of attention is focused on the new semiconductor materials to overcome these problems. Carbon NanoTubes(CNTs) are attracting a lot of interest as one of the most competitive materials with excellent electrical transport and scaling properties, and CNTFETs using CNTs are gaining popularity as next-generation semiconductor devices. However, since the technology to place CNTs in a certain direction and interval on the wafer is not yet mature enough, it is difficult to construct all necessary circuits with CNTFET only. So, there is increasing interest in a hybrid configuration using MOSFET and CNTFET together. Because SRAM plays a role as a cache in microprocessors and is a critical circuit block influencing microprocessor performance, research to implement existing SRAM in a hybrid form is steadily progressing. Therefore, in this paper, we will explain the design method of hybrid 8T SRAM based on the existing hybrid 6T SRAM and discuss the performance difference between the two circuits.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.54-57
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• 2005

A soft error rate neutrons is a growing problem fur terrestrial integrated circuits with technology scaling. In the acceleration test with high-density neutron beam, a latch-up prohibits accurate estimations of the soft error rate (SER). This paper presents results of analysis for the latch-up characteristics in the circumstance corresponding to the acceleration SER test for SRAM. Simulation results, using a two-dimensional device simulator, show that the deep p-well structure has better latch-up immunity compared to normal twin and triple well structures. In addition, it is more effective to minimize the distance to ground power compared with controlling a path to the $V_{DD}$ power.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.203-205
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• 2004

A soft error rate neutrons is a growing problem for terrestrial integrated circuits with technology scaling. In the acceleration test with high-density neutron beam, a latch-up prohibits accurate estimations of the soft error rate (SER). This paper presents results of analysis for the latch-up characteristics in the circumstance corresponding to the acceleration SER test for SRAM. Simulation results, using a two-dimensional device simulator, show that the deep p-well structure has better latch-up immunity compared to normal twin and triple well structures. In addition, it is more effective to minimize the distance to ground power compared with controlling a path to the $V_{DD}$ power.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society Of Semiconductor Equipment Technology
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.63-66
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• 2005

A soft error rate neutrons is a growing problem for integrated circuits with technology scaling. In the acceleration test with high-density neutron beam, a latch-up prohibits accurate estimations of the soft error rate (SER). This paper presents results of analysis for the latch-up characteristics in the circumstance corresponding to the acceleration SER test for SRAM. Simulation results, using a two-dimensional device simulator, show that the deep p-well structure has better latch-up Immunity compared to normal twin and triple well structures. In addition, it is more effective to minimize the distance to ground power compared with controlling a path to the $V_{DD}$ power.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2002

DRAM, SRAM, and FLASH memory are three major memory devices currently used in most electronic applications. But, they have very distinct attributes, therefore, each memory could be used only for limited applications. MRAM (Magneto-resistive Random Access Memory) is a promising candidate for a universal memory that meets all application needs with non-volatile, fast operational speed, and low power consumption. The simplest architecture of MRAM cell is a series of MTJ (Magnetic Tunnel Junction) as a data storage part and MOS transistor as a data selection part. To be a commercially competitive memory device, scalability is an important factor as well. This paper is testing the actual electrical parameters and the scaling factors to limit MRAM technology in the semiconductor based memory device by an actual integration of MRAM core cell. Electrical tuning of MOS/MTJ, and control of resistance are important factors for data sensing, and control of magnetic switching for data writing.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2005

Continued scaling of MOS devices requires the formation of the ultra shallow and very heavily doped junction. The simulation and experiment results show that the degradation of pMOS performance in logic and SRAM pMOS devices due to the excessive diffusion of the tail and a large amount of dose loss in the extension region. This problem comes from the high-temperature long-time deposition process for forming the spacer and the presence of fluorine which diffuses quickly to the $Si/SiO_{2}$ interface with boron pairing. We have studied the method to improve the pMOS performance that includes the low-energy boron implantation, spike annealing and device structure design using TCAD simulation.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2016

Nonvolatile memory (NVM) is being considered as an alternative of traditional memory devices such as SRAM and DRAM, which suffer from various limitations due to the technology scaling of modern integrated circuits. Although NVMs have advantages including nonvolatility, low leakage current, and high density, their inferior write performance in terms of energy and endurance becomes a major challenge to the successful design of NVM-based memory systems. In order to overcome the aforementioned drawback of the NVM, extensive research is required to develop energy- and endurance-aware optimization techniques for NVM-based memory systems. However, researchers have experienced difficulty in finding a suitable simulation tool to prototype and evaluate new NVM optimization schemes because existing simulation tools do not consider the feature of NVM devices. In this article, we introduce a NVM-based cache simulator to support rapid prototyping and evaluation of NVM-based caches, as well as energy- and endurance-aware NVM cache optimization schemes. We demonstrate that the proposed NVM cache simulator can easily prototype PRAM cache and PRAM+STT-RAM hybrid cache as well as evaluate various write traffic reduction schemes and wear leveling schemes.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-22
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• 2014

In the past few decades, CMOS logic technologies and devices have been successfully developed with the steady miniaturization of the feature size. At the sub-30-nm CMOS technology nodes, one of the main hurdles for continuously and successfully scaling down CMOS devices is the parametric failure caused by random variations such as line edge roughness (LER), random dopant fluctuation (RDF), and work-function variation (WFV). The characteristics of each random variation source and its effect on advanced device structures such as multigate and ultra-thin-body devices (vs. conventional planar bulk MOSFET) are discussed in detail. Further, suggested are suppression methods for the LER-, RDF-, and WFV-induced threshold voltage (VTH) variations in advanced CMOS logic technologies including the double-patterning and double-etching (2P2E) technique and in advanced device structures including the fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) MOSFET and FinFET/tri-gate MOSFET at the sub-30-nm nodes. The segmented-channel MOSFET (SegFET) and junctionless transistor (JLT) that can suppress the random variations and the SegFET-/JLT-based static random access memory (SRAM) cell that enhance the read and write margins at a time, though generally with a trade-off between the read and the write margins, are introduced.