A Nonvolatile Refresh Scheme Adopted 1T-FeRAM for Alternative 1T-DRAM

Abstract

1T1C DRAM has been facing technological and physical constraints that make more difficult their further scaling. Thus there are much industrial interests for alternative technologies that exploit new devices and concepts to go beyond the 1T1C DRAM technology, to allow better scaling, and to enlarge the memory performance. The technologies of DRAM cell are changing from 1T1C cell type to capacitor-less 1T-gain cell type for more scalable cell size. But floating body cell (FBC) of 1T-gain DRAM has weak retention properties than 1T1C DRAM. FET-type 1T-FeRAM is not adequate for long term nonvolatile applications, but could be a good alternative for the short term retention applications of DRAM. The proposed nonvolatile refresh scheme is based on utilizing the short nonvolatile retention properties of 1T-FeRAM in both after power-off and power-on operation condition.