A 35 ns 2K /spl times/ 8 HMOS static RAM

This paper describes the circuit design and process techniques used to produce a 35-ns 2K /spl times/ 8 HMOS static RAM aimed at future high-end microprocessor applications. The circuit design uses predecoding of the row and column decoder/driver circuits to reduce active power, address-transition detection schemes to equalize internal nodes, and dynamic depletion-mode configurations for increased drive and speed. The technology is 2.5-3.0-/spl mu/m design rule HMOS employing an L/SUB eff/ of 1.7 /spl mu/m, t/SUB ox/=400 /spl Aring/, double-poly resistor loads, RIE and plasma etching, and wafer-stepper lithography. Using these techniques an access time of 35 ns, dc active power of 65 mA, standby power of 14 mA, and die size of 37.5K mil/SUP 2/ has been achieved. The cell size is 728 /spl mu/m/SUP 2/.     

A 30 ns 16K/spl times/1 fully static RAM

A fully static 16K/spl times/1 random access memory (SRAM) with significantly improved speed is discussed. Design innovations using conservative 2.5 /spl mu/m transistors and state-of-the-art double level poly (DLP) scaled NMOS technology were utilized to accomplish 30 ns address and chip select access times with an active power of 550 mW and standby power of 75 mW. A cost effective DLP process was developed using `shared' contacts in the cell. These `shared' contacts utilize second level poly to provide connection between the first poly level and moat, reduced the number of contacts per cell to four. The DPL cell size is 1.6 mil/SUP 2/ (1000 /spl mu/m/SUP 2/) which yields a bar size of 158/spl times/264 mil/SUP 2/ (4.0/spl times/6.7 mm/SUP 2/). In this fully static design a novel architecture was used to power down half of the X-decoders in the active mode using the AO address buffer signals. This technique allowed the use of power saved in the X-decoder to be distributed throughout the circuit to improve overall access times. One of the other major speed improvements came from utilizing column sense amps. The use of the column sense amp improves the overall speed by more than 20 percent. A write cycle of 30 ns has been achieved with a typical write pulse width of 10 ns.     

A Hi-CMOSII 8K/spl times/8 bit static RAM

A Hi-CMOSII static RAM with 8K word by 8 bit organization has been developed. The RAM is fabricated using double polysilicon technology and p- and n-channel transistors having a typical gate polysilicon length of 2 /spl mu/m. The device was realized using low-power high-speed-oriented circuit design and a new redundancy circuit that utilizes laser diffusion programmable devices. The new RAM has an address access time of 65 ns, operating power dissipation of 200 mW, and standby dissipation of 10 /spl mu/W.     

SNOS 1K/spl times/8 static nonvolatile RAM

Using an advanced n-channel, double level polysilicon SNOS technology, a 1K/spl times/8 bit nonvolatile static RAM has been designed. Typical RAM access time is 300 ns, with typical active power dissipation of 300 mW, and standby power of 160 mW. Endurance of 10/SUP 4/ erase/store cycles has been demonstrated. The ability to measure erased and written memory thresholds allows prediction of retention lifetime. For the 8K NVRAM, the minimum retention lifetime is 1 year following a 10 ms erase and store.     

A 25 ns 64K static RAM

A high-performance 64K/spl times/1-bit CMOS SRAM is described. The RAM has an access time of 25 ns with active power of 350 mW and standby power of 15 mW. The access time has been obtained by using a 1.5 /spl mu/m rule CMOS process, advanced double-level A1 interconnection technology, an equalizer circuit, and a digit line sense amplifier that is the first sense amplifier directly connected to digit lines. The WRITE recovery circuit is effective in improving WRITE characteristics, and a block selecting circuit was used for low power dissipation.     

A fault-tolerant 30 ns/375 mW 16K/spl times/1 NMOS static RAM

A fault-tolerant 30950 mil/SUP 2/ (19.9 mm/SUP 2/) 16K/spl times/1 static MOS RAM has been fabricated with a single polysilicon E/D NMOS process. Using circuit techniques normally restricted to dynamic RAMs, but adapted for asynchronous operation, the device achieves a typical access time of 30 ns while dissipating only 375 mW. Among the topics discussed in a new single-polysilicon memory cell configuration, the first truly asynchronous bootstrap circuit, an active bit-line equilibration and precharge scheme, and a new power-efficient substrate bias generator. Also described is an on-chip redundancy scheme which consumes approximately 2 percent of the total chip area, does not compromise access time and can be programmed using standard test equipment.     

A fast 32 K/spl times/8 CMOS static RAM with address transition detection

A high-speed 256 K (32 K/spl times/8) CMOS static RAM (SRAM) is described. Precharging and equalization schemes are implemented with address-transition-detection (ATD) techniques. With a differential sensing circuitry, a 23-ns access time is achieved (at V/SUB cc/=5 V and 25/spl deg/C) for addresses and chip-select clocks. The operating current is 36 mA in the READ cycle and 28 mA in the WRITE cycle, at 10-MHz cycling frequency. A four-transistor memory cell is designed with double-polysilicon and double -metal layers to achieve high performances. Versatile redundancy schemes consisting of polysilicon laser fuses, logical circuitry, and novel enable/disable controls are designed to repair defective cells. A compensation circuit is used to optimize writing parameters for redundant columns.     

A 2K/spl times/8-bit static MOS RAM with a new memory cell structure

A 2K/spl times/8-bit static MOS RAM with a new memory cell structure has been developed. The memory cell consists of six devices including four MOSFETs and two memory load resistors. Two load resistors are fabricated in the second-level polysilicon films over the polysilicon gate MOSFET used as the driver. Thus the memory cell area is determined only by the area of four MOSFETs. By applying the new cell structure and photolithography technology of 3 /spl mu/m dimensions, the cell area of 23/spl times/27 /spl mu/m and the chip area of 3.75/spl times/4.19 mm have been realized. The RAM is nonclocked and single 5 V operation. Access time of about 150 ns is obtained at a supply current of 120 mA.     

A 20 ns 64K (4K/spl times/16) NMOS RAM

A 64K (4K/spl times/16) NMOS RAM is described which uses new circuit techniques and design concepts to achieve an average nominal access time of 20 ns. The RAM was built using a relatively straightforward NMOS technology with single-level metal, single-level polycide, an average minimum feature size of 1.7 /spl mu/m, and an effective channel length of 1.2 /spl mu/m. The chip is organized physically into four 16K blocks. Cell area is 292 /spl mu/m/SUP 2/ with a chip area of 32.6 mm/SUP 2/. A four-device split-wordline cell was used to reduce the wordline delay. Chip organization, simplified clocking and timing, and new circuits were especially important for improved performance. An address buffer with internal reference, a switched decoupled bootstrapped decoder, and a self-timed sense amplifier are described.     

A 4.5 ns access time 1K /spl times/ 4 bit ECL RAM

An extremely high-speed ECL 4-kbit RAM with maximum access time of 4.5 ns and typical power dissipation of 1.5 W has been developed for cache memories and control store. This performance has been realized by using a very shallow junction transistor with an emitter size of 1.3 /spl times/ 1.5 /spl mu/m, which has a high cutoff frequency of 9 GHz, in conjunction with optimized circuit design. The RAM was housed in a small leadless chip carrier (LCC) package. The overall package size was 0.335 in/SUP 2/. The RAM was designed to have soft-error immunity. The failure rate due to alpha particles has been estimated, through acceleration tests, to be less than 50 FIT.     

A 16 ns 2K/spl times/8 bit full CMOS SRAM

A high-speed 2K/spl times/8 bit full CMOS SRAM fabricated with a platinum silicide gate electrode and single-level aluminum technology is described. A typical address access time of 16 ns, which is comparable to the 16-kb bipolar SRAMs, was achieved. Typical active and standby power dissipations are 150 mW and 25 nW, respectively. The platinum silicide word line reduces the total address access time by 25%. A compact cell layout design, as well as a 1.5-/spl mu/m device feature size, also gives fast access time. The properly controlled bit line swing voltage provides reliable and fast readout operation. The chip size of the SRAM is 2.7/spl times/3.5 mm.     

A 4K/spl times/8 dynamic RAM with self-refresh

A 4K/spl times/8 MOS dynamic RAM using a single transistor cell with on-chip self-refresh is described. The device uses a multiplexed address/data bus. Control of the reconfigurable data bus allows the RAM to operate on either an 8-bit or a 16-bit data bus. The memory cell is fabricated using a double polysilicon n-channel HMOS technology using polysilicon word lines and metal bit lines. Self-refresh is implemented with an on-chip timer, arbiter, counter and multiplexer. A high-speed arbiter resolves simultaneous memory and refresh requests. Redundant rows are used for increased manufacturing yields. Polysilicon fuses are electrically programmed to select redundant rows.     

A 128K word/spl times/8 bit dynamic RAM

A 1-Mb DRAM with 128K/spl times/8 bit organization is described. In designing the circuit, half V/SUB cc/ bit line precharge with dummy reverse circuits was adopted for noise reduction. The noise is estimated using a three-dimensional capacitance calculation. In realizing the chip, a 1-/spl mu/m NMOS process with double-level aluminum wiring was used.     

Second generation I/SUP 2/L/MTL: a 20 ns process/structure

A high performance, second generation I/SUP 2/L/MTL gate for digital LSI applications with TTL compatibility has successfully been designed, characterized, and demonstrated fully functional over a wide current range and the military temperature range of -55 to 125/spl deg/C. Performance is measured using an in-line five-collector gate having one end injector. The gate performed with the following characteristics at 100 /spl mu/A injector current: /spl beta//SUB U//SUP eff//spl ges/4 for all collectors at 25/spl deg/C and /spl ges/2.5 at -55/spl deg/C, /spl alpha//SUB rec///spl alpha//SUB F//spl cong/0.58 and /spl tau/~/SUB d/=18-20 ns from -55 to 125/spl deg/C, and a speed-power product of 1.4 pJ at 25/spl deg/C. At low injector currents, a constant speed-power product of 0.36 pJ at 25/spl deg/ was obtained.     

A 100 ns 5 V only 64K/spl times/1 MOS dynamic RAM

A new high performance 36500 mil/SUP 2/ 64K dynamic RAM has been designed and incorporates: 1) a twisted-metal bit-line architecture, 2) an ultrasensitive sense amplifier with self-restore to V/SUB DD/, 3) internal constant-voltage supply to memory cell plate, 4) a bit-line equalizer and full-size reference capacitor, 5) high-performance enhancement-depletion mode inverter-buffer circuits, 6) TTL negative undershoot protection on address circuits, and 7) active hold-down transistors for both X and Y drivers. A nominal 100 ns access time and power dissipation of less than 150 mW was observed during active operation with a 20 mW power dissipation in the standby mode.     

An 8K/spl times/8 dynamic RAM with self-refresh

The device uses a standard NMOS one-transistor cell and is fabricated with a double polysilicon HMOS technology using polysilicon word lines and folded metal bit lines. Self-refresh is implemented with an on-chip timer, arbiter, and refresh counter. A high-speed arbiter resolves conflicts between refresh cycles and memory accesses. A `ready' output is provided to the processor. A multiplexed bus is provided in the array to carry column addresses and also I/O data paths. Another multiplexed bus is used for data lines between the input buffers, write buffers, secondary sense amplifiers, and output buffers. Redundant rows and columns are used for increased manufacturing yield. Polysilicon fuses are electrically programmed to select redundant elements.     

An 8K/spl times/8 bit static MOS RAM fabricated by n-MOS/n-well CMOS technology

A 64 kbit fully static MOS RAM which contains about 402500 elements on the chip area of 5.44/spl times/5.80 mm has been designed. The memory cell is a basic cross-coupled flip-flop with four n-MOSFETs and two polysilicon load resistors. The memory cell size is decreased to 16/spl times/19 /spl mu/m (304 /spl mu/m/SUP 2/) by using advanced n-MOS technology with double-level polysilicon films and photolithography of 2 /spl mu/m dimensions. By applying n-well CMOS technology fabricated on a high-resistivity p-type silicon substrate to peripheral circuits of the RAM, high performance characteristics with high speed access times and low power dissipation are obtained. The RAM is designed for single 5 V operation. Address and chip select access times are typically 80 ns. Power dissipation in the active and standby mode is typically 300 and 75 mW, respectively.     

A 21-ns 32 K/spl times/8 CMOS static RAM with a selectively pumped p-well array

The design and performance of a 32 K/spl times/8-b CMOS static RAM (SRAM) are presented. The design features a selectively pumped p-well array. Using this array technology, high-impedance polysilicon resistor loads can be used to reduce the array standby current by three orders of magnitude, and the device characteristics can be optimized to achieve high speed in the peripheral circuits. A unique divided-word-line architecture with shared sense amplifiers is used to achieve high-speed read operation. The read speed is further enhanced by a novel quasistatic equalization that minimizes peak current. A high-speed write circuit with a write-to-read transition detection is used to achieve a fast write operation. An advanced 1.2-/spl mu/m double-level-metal CMOS technology was used to fabricate the devices. The access time is 21 ns and the active power is 330 mW at 22 MHz.     

A 35 ns 16K NMOS static RAM

An NMOS 16K/spl times/1 bit fully static MOS RAM with 35 ns access time has been successfully developed. High speed access time was achieved by the combination of an NMOS process with the 2.2 /spl mu/m gate length transistor, high speed sense amplifier, and reduction on delay time at the crossunder. The improvements of row and column decoder circuits result in the low active and standby power dissipation of 275 mW and 22.5 mW, respectively. The soft error rate of the poly load cell was minimized by reducing the collection efficiency of alpha-particle induced electrons.     

High-speed split-emitter I/SUP 2/L/MTL memory cell

Describes a novel circuit/device approach that overcomes the performance drawback of the injection-sensed I/SUP 2/L/MTL memory cell cited in a 16-kbit static MTL RAM (see IEEE ISSCC Dig. Tech. Papers, p.222-4, 1980). As a result, a compact memory cell with extremely low DC standby power in the nanowatt range and with read/write times below 5 ns is achieved. This has been verified by experimental investigations on small test arrays. They have been fabricated with an advanced process featuring a p-polysilicon-base self-alignment scheme and a double-diffused p-n-p structure. In addition, computer circuit simulations have been performed that show the read delay sensitivities in large arrays. Based on these results, an access time of less than 25 ns is projected for a 16-kbit MTL RAM.