FLASH MEMORY

BY MYKHAILO PROSTAK, IA-73

What is it?

 Flash memory is an electronic (solid-state) non-volatile computer memory storage

medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of
flash memory are named after the NAND and NOR logic gates. The individual
flash memory cells, consisting of floating-gate MOSFETs (floating-gate metal–
oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors), exhibit internal characteristics
similar to those of the corresponding gates.
History

 Flash memory was invented by Fujio Masuoka in the 1984.

 It called NOR flash.
 Toshiba commercially launched NAND flash memory in 1987.
 Intel Corporation introduced the first commercial NOR type flash chip in 1988.
 Multi-level cell (MLC) technology stores more than one bit in each memory
cell. NEC demonstrated quad-level cell (QLC) technology in 1996, with a
64 Mb flash memory chip storing 2-bit data per cell. STMicroelectronics also
demonstrated quad-level cells in 2000, with a 64 Mb NOR flash memory chip.
 As of August 2017, microSD cards with a capacity up to 400 GB (400 billion
bytes) are available.
Principles of operation

 Flash memory stores information in an array of memory cells made from floating-

gate transistors. In single-level cell (SLC) devices, each cell stores only one bit of
information. Multi-level cell (MLC) devices, including triple-level cell (TLC)
devices, can store more than one bit per cell.
 The floating gate may be conductive (typically polysilicon in most kinds of flash
memory) or non-conductive (as in SONOS flash memory).
NOR flash

 In NOR flash, each cell has one end connected directly to ground, and the other
end connected directly to a bit line. This arrangement is called "NOR flash"
because it acts like a NOR gate: when one of the word lines (connected to the
cell's CG) is brought high, the corresponding storage transistor acts to pull the
output bit line low. The low read latencies characteristic of NOR devices allow for
both direct code execution and data storage in a single memory product.
NAND flash

 NAND flash also uses floating-gate transistors, but they are connected in a way
that resembles a NAND gate: several transistors are connected in series, and the
bit line is pulled low only if all the word lines are pulled high (above the
transistors' VT). These groups are then connected via some additional transistors to
a NOR-style bit line array in the same way that single transistors are linked in
NOR flash.
 Compared to NOR flash, replacing single transistors with serial-linked groups
adds an extra level of addressing.
Comparing NOR and NAND
Capacity

 In 2005, Toshiba and SanDisk developed a NAND flash chip capable of storing

1 GB of data. In September 2005, Samsung Electronics announced that it had
developed the world's first 2 GB chip.
 In July 2016, Samsung announced the 4 TB . Samsung 850 EVO which utilizes
their 256 Gbit 48-layer TLC 3D V-NAND. Further, Samsung expects to unveil
SSDs with up to 100 TB of storage by 2020.
Capacity

 The capacity of flash chips generally follows Moore's Law because they are

manufactured with many of the same integrated circuits techniques and
equipment.
 Consumer flash storage devices typically are advertised with usable sizes
expressed as a small integer power of two (2, 4, 8, etc.) and a designation of
megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB); e.g., 512 MB, 8 GB. This
includes SSDs marketed as hard drive replacements, in accordance with
traditional hard drives, which use decimal prefixes.
Flash memory form factors

 Flash-based media is based on a silicon substrate. Also known as solid-state

devices, they are widely used in both consumer electronics and enterprise data
storage systems.
 There are three SSD form factors that have been identified by the Solid State
Storage Initiative:
 SSDs that fit into the same slots used by traditional electromechanical hard disk
drives (HDDs). SSDs have architecture similar to that of an integrated circuit.
Flash memory form factors

 Solid-state cards that reside on a printed circuit board and use a standard card
form factor, such as Peripheral Component Interconnect Express.
 Solid-state modules that fit in a dual inline memory module (DIMM) or small
outline dual inline memory module using a standard HDD interface, such as the
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA).
Industry

 In 2008, the flash memory industry includes about US$9.1 billion in production and sales. Other
sources put the flash memory market at a size of more than US$20 billion in 2006, accounting for
more than eight percent of the overall semiconductor market and more than 34 percent of the
total semiconductor memory market. In 2012, the market was estimated at $26.8 billion. It can
take up to 10 weeks to produce a flash memory chip.
 The following are the largest NAND flash memory manufacturers, as of the first quarter of 2019:
 Samsung Electronics – 34.9%
 Kioxia – 18.1%
 Western Digital Corporation – 14%
 Micron Technology – 13.5%
 SK Hynix – 10.3%
 Intel – 8.7%
Thank you for attention!