NP5Q128A13ESFC0E Micron Technology Inc, NP5Q128A13ESFC0E Datasheet - Page 6

• Manufacturer Part Number: NP5Q128A13ESFC0E
• Manufacturer: Micron Technology Inc

Specifications of NP5Q128A13ESFC0E

• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Supplier Unconfirmed

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Description
Introduction
Numonyx® Omneo™ Phase Change Memory for embedded applications offers all of the
best attributes from other memory types in a new, highly scalable and flexible technology.
Omneo™ P5Q PCM is a new type of nonvolatile semiconductor memory that stores
information through a reversible structural phase change in a chalcogenide material. The
material exhibits a change in material properties, both electrical and optical, when changed
from the amorphous (disordered) to the polycrystalline (regularly ordered) state. In the case
of Phase Change Memory, information is stored via the change in resistance the
chalcogenide material experiences upon undergoing a phase change. The material also
changes optical properties after experiencing a phase change, a characteristic that has
been successfully mastered for use in current rewritable optical storage devices such as
rewritable CDs and DVDs.
The Omneo™ P5Q PCM storage element consists of a thin film of chalcogenide contacted
by a resistive heating element. In PCM, the phase change is induced in the memory cell by
highly localized Joule heating caused by an induced current at the material junction. During
a write operation, a small volume of the chalcogenide material is made to change phase.
The phase change is a reversible process, and is modulated by the magnitude of injected
current, the applied voltage, and the duration of the heating pulse.
Omneo™ P5Q PCM combines the benefits of traditional floating gate flash, both NOR-type
and NAND-type, with some of the key attributes of RAM and EEpROM. Like NOR flash and
RAM technology, PCM offers fast random access times. Like NAND flash, PCM has the
ability to write moderately fast. And like RAM and EEpROM, PCM supports bit alterable
writes (overwrite). Unlike flash, no separate erase step is required to change information
from 0 to 1 and 1 to 0. Unlike RAM, however, the technology is nonvolatile with data
retention comparable to NOR flash. However, at the current time, PCM technology appears
to have a write cycling endurance better than that of NAND or NOR flash, but less than that
of RAM.
Unlike other proposed alternative memories, Omneo™ P5Q PCM technology uses a
conventional CMOS process with the addition of a few additional layers to form the memory
storage element. Overall, the basic memory manufacturing process used to make PCM is
less complex than that of NAND, NOR or DRAM.
Historically, systems have adopted many different types of memory to meet different needs
within a design. Some systems might include boot memory, configuration memory, data
storage memory, high speed execution memory, and dynamic working memory. The
demands of many of today’s designs require better performance from the memory
subsystem and a reduction in the overall component count. PCM provides many of the
attributes of different kinds of memory found in a typical design, enabling the opportunity to
consolidate or eliminate of different types of memory.