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3.0 Volt-only Technology Background
Introduction
AMD’s Am29LVxxx 3.0 volt-only Flash memory technology shares all the architectural
features of AMD’s industry-standard, 5.0 volt-only Am29Fxxx Flash memory technology.
The 5.0 volt-only family offers single power-supply operation, sector architecture, Embedded
Algorithms, and high performance. It has become the architecture of choice for system
designers using single-power-supply Flash memory. AMD’s Am29LVxxx 3.0 volt-only
family is destined to become the Flash architecture of choice for designers of battery-powered
applications, and offers the following:
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3.0 volt-only, single-power-supply operation
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2.7 V to 3.6 V extended operating range
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Low power consumption
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High performance
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Industry standard architecture
In addition, AMD’s 0.35 μm and new 0.32 μm process technologies offer a minimum
program/erase cycle endurance of one million cycles.
Single-Power-Supply Operation
The 3.0 volt-only design is based on the same process technology and many of the circuit
design techniques as AMD’s 5.0 volt-only Flash memory devices. The devices are fabricated
using double metal layers, dual-layer polysilicon, and a triple-well CMOS process. AMD’s
process provides low-power, high-performance CMOS devices using the established NOR
cell Flash architecture. AMD initially manufactured the 3.0 volt-only family on a 0.5 μm
process, but introduced its 16 Mbit devices on a 0.35 μm process. Many of the 3.0 volt-only
devices will migrate to a new 0.32 μm process technology by the end of 1998.
3.0 Volt-Only Design Techniques
AMD’s 3.0 volt-only devices achieve single-power-supply operation by using a memory array
constructed with core cells identical to those for AMD’s 5.0 volt-only devices. The difference
is that the 3.0 volt-only peripheral circuitry surrounding the memory core is specifically
designed to interface with 2.7–3.6 volt levels only. The Am29LVxxx family circuitry contains
charge pumps that enable a 2.7–3.6 volt external voltage to provide 5.0 volt-only performance
for read, program, and erase operations.
The charge pumps in the 3.0 volt-only design raise the external power supply voltage to levels
required for internal 5.0 volt operation. This approach is silicon efficient, as the 3.0 volt-only