Chipware : FLASH-EEPROM Technology

Description :

Flash-EEPROM and EEPROM have the same functionality. They only differ in the Writing process speed  and Data retention longevity performance due to the specificity of the Flash technology.

Technology of Flash-EEPROM

With Flash technology, the data is written on the memory by 'Hot' electron injection. This technique of  'hot' electrons is produced by a high potential difference between the source and the drain. These fast electrons penetrate the tunnel oxide layer due to the influence of a positively charged control gate and are stored in the floating gate. This results in a considerable gain of writing time per memory access: to about 10µs with Flash, compare to 3-10ms with normal EEPROM.

The current Flash-EEPROM memories are guaranteed for a data retention time of at least 10 years or at least 100.000 write/erase cycles.