SG-MONOS could enable MCUs with 100Mbyte of on chip flash

　　Renesas Electronics has confirmed that its fin based split-gate metal oxide nitride oxide silicon (SG-MONOS) technology can be used for large scale on chip flash in MCUs manufactured on a 16nm process or smaller.

　　The result is said to represent ‘significant progress’ towards the creation of MCUs with at least four times the processing capacity of 28nm devices and with flash memories of more than 100Mbyte.

　　In December 2016, Renesas announced it had developed the first fin-type SG-MONOS flash memory cell through the use of charge trap type technology. SG-MONOS stores data in a thin trap film formed on the surface of the silicon substrate, which is said to make it comparatively easier to deploy it in a 3D fin structure.

　　As part of the prototyping process, Renesas optimised the process conditions for the fin structure, including the deposition, etching and ion implantation. This allowed the memory array to be created without increasing the number of process steps.

　　According to the company, data can be retained for at least 10 years at 160°C.