Analysis and Design of SemiconductorMemories: SRAMs, DRAMs and Flash

Delivery method: 12 hours of lecture with classroom and homework problems. Students should bring a calculator to class.

Target audience: Engineers involved in memory design, testing and processing

Course description: This course will provide an overview of three of the most important types of semiconductor memories: SRAMs, DRAMs and nonvolatile Flash EEPROMs. The course will describe the operation and design issues of the memory cells, point out applications and discuss the overall architecture of the memories. In each case, we will concentrate on the basic physics of the memory cells themselves in terms of cell stability, reliability and scaling.

Prerequisites: Familiarity with a device course such as "MOS Device Physics"

Objectives: To give engineers a good overview of SRAMs, DRAMs, and Flash EEPROMs. The focus of the course is on the fundamental device physics of the memory cells themselves and not so much on the design of the associated circuitry. At the end of the course, engineers will be able to analyze the tradeoffs of different types of loads in SRAM cells in terms of stability and noise, power consumption and scaling. They will also be able to appreciate the design tradeoffs in different types of trench based and stacked capacitor DRAM cells. Finally, they will be able to understand the operation of various types of non-volatile memories with focus on flash memories.

Reference: "Semiconductor Memories: Technology, Testing and Reliability" by Ashok Sharma, IEEE Press

• 1. Introduction
• 2. SRAMs
• 3. Cell stability issues
• 4. DRAM cells
• 5. DRAM architecture
• 6. Flash memory cell design, operation and analysis
• 7. Applications