Flash Memory

The ever increasing number of handheld, low-power devices has given rise to a new class of
memory devices known as flash memory. Cell phones maintain phone number lists as well as
configuration information, digital cameras store pictures on flash memory cards, digital audio
players use flash memory for storage, and most computer users carry flash memory drives in
their pockets. All of these devices need to maintain stored information with no applied power but
can be both read and written when powered.
Flash memory is a type of electrically erasable, programmable ROM (EEPROM). As seen below,
the basic storage cell is similar to a MOSFET with two gates, but one gate is electrically floating.
The write process involves placing negative charge on the floating gate by driving a large
positive voltage on the control gate and a positive drain-source voltage across the device.
The positive control gate voltage inverts the MOSFET channel, and the large drain-source
voltage accelerates electrons through the channel to the drain. The electrons gain so much kinetic
energy that they are known as hot electrons; they have the same energy as they would have if
the device temperature were much higher. The vertical field created by the large control voltage
captures some of the hot electrons, and they tunnel through the thin oxide to the floating gate

Erasure occurs by removing the negative charge with a process known as Fowler-Nordheim
tunneling. The source is driven positive, and the control gate is set to a large negative voltage.
This creates an electric field that causes electrons to slowly tunnel from the floating gate to the
source. Unlike the write operation, the erase operation for flash memory is performed on a large
number of cells simultaneously. This is done to amortize the rather slow erasure time over many
cells, reducing the effective per cell erasure time.
The presence or absence of charge on the floating gate changes the effective threshold voltage of
the control gate. Reading the state of the memory cell is done by driving the control gate with an
appropriate voltage and measuring the resulting drain-source current

All of these devices need to maintain stored information with no applied power but can be both
read and written when powered.
USB, Memory card, mobile devices
Non-volatile memory it will hold its state even the power supply is turned off.
Floating gate is electrically isolated, with no electrical contact, which mean any charges from the
floating gate will stay there for a long time. Therefore, this allows the floating gate transistor to
store data of flash memory devices.
Flash memory needs to support both reading and writing. For reading, the negative charge of the
floating gate screen off to positive charge of the control gate which mean more charge on the
control gate to get the device to reach the threshold. Thus, this means if the bit value = 0, we
need a higher voltage to get the device to reach the threshold then you do the bit value = 1

The MNOS (metal nitride oxide semiconductor), threshold-modifying electrons are trapped in a
Si3N4 layer deposited on top of the gate SiO2. A more accepted solution is offered by the
floating-gate transistor.