| Munich,
Germany – December 16, 2004 – In a research breakthrough
that has broken records in the semiconductor industry,
scientists at Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX)
have built the world’s smallest non-volatile flash memory
cell. The new memory cell is measuring a mere 20 nanometers
– approximately 5,000 times thinner than a human hair.
Given that all manufacturing-related challenges - including
that of the lithography - can be resolved, the new development
would make nonvolatile memory chips with a capacity
of 32 Gbit possible within a few years. That is eight
times the capacity of what is currently available on
the market. Nonvolatile
flash memories are becoming increasingly popular as
mass storage media for devices such as digital cameras,
camcorders and USB sticks. The most advanced nonvolatile
flash memory devices available today can permanently
store one or two bits of information per memory cell
without a supply voltage. Such memories have a feature
size of around 90 nanometers, and shrinking this feature
size using typical techniques to half that size has
posed many problems because of nanoscale physical
effects. In particular, fabricating 20 nanometer-sized
flash memory cells has been considered well nigh impossible
because these physical effects would make the memory
cells extremely unreliable.
The
Infineon researchers overcame this challenge by creating
a unique three-dimensional structure with a fin for
the transistor that acts as the heart of the memory
cell. The special geometry minimizes unwanted effects
and significantly improves electrostatic control compared
to today’s flat transistors. Called a FinFET (Fin
Field Effect Transistor), the Infineon device stores
the electrons which carry the information in a nitride
layer that lies electrically isolated between the
silicon fin and the gate electrode. Just 8 nanometers
thin, the fin is controlled by the 20 nanometer-wide
gate electrode.
The
FinFET is also extremely durable and possesses excellent
electrical characteristics. For example, the most
advanced memories on the market today need approximately
1,000 electrons in order to reliably remember one
bit. The new Infineon memory cell uses just 100 electrons;
an additional 100 electrons stores a second bit in
the same transistor. For comparison’s sake, 100 electrons
roughly correspond to the number of electrons in a
single gold atom. Despite these minimal charge levels,
the sample of Infineon’s Munich laboratories showed
excellent electrical characteristics.
Details
about the new flash memory were presented at a post-deadline
paper at the IEEE’s International Electron Devices
Meeting in San Francisco yesterday.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers
semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive
and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired
communications markets, secure mobile solutions as
well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon
operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific
region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In
fiscal year 2004 (ending September), the company achieved
sales of Euro 7.19 billion with about 35,600 employees
worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of
the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock
Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information
is available at www.infineon.com.
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