A 32KB 18ns random access time embedded PCM with enhanced program throughput for automotive and smart power applications.

The demand for more and more efficient management of power systems is causing BCD technologies to move forward in the integration of additional digital functions, and the use of microcontrollers in products has become a common practice. In this perspective, the introduction of an embedded nonvolatile memory (eNVM) to store the microcontroller code has become important to enable software customization. In this paper, a 32 KB embedded Phase Change Memory (ePCM) designed and manufactured in 0.11 mu m Smart Power BCD technology with a specifically optimized Ge-rich Ge-Sb-Te alloy (supply voltage = 1.8 V) is presented. The ePCM features 18 ns random access time and robustness against resistance drift thanks to the used differential sensing scheme and 20 mu s word modify time with 32-cell programming parallelism thanks to enhanced programming circuits. The 32 KB eNVM size is 0.7 mm(2).