Flash memory and method for operating the same
AssigneeWinbond Electronics Corp.
InventorSho Okabe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flash memory of the invention has a plurality of planes, a controller, a switch unit, and a driving control circuit. The controller is configured to select at least one of the planes. The switch unit is configured to electrically connect bit lines of the unselected plane to a reference voltage. The driving control circuit is configured to commonly provide a gate select signal to select transistors of the selected planes and the unselected planes after the bit lines of the unselected plane is electrically connected to the reference voltage. A flash memory that can reliably seek stability of threshold distribution of memory is provided.
Claims12
A method for operating a flash memory comprising a plurality of planes, each of the planes comprising a plurality of NAND strings, each of the NAND strings comprising a select transistor and a plurality of memory cells, and each of the NAND strings being arranged between a bit line and a source line, the method comprising:
- selecting at least one plane among the planes;
- electrically connecting the bit line of an unselected plane to a reference voltage;
- commonly providing a gate select signal to the select transistors of the selected planes and the unselected planes after the bit line of the unselected plane is connected to the reference voltage;
- and
- reading data from the selected plane, writing data to the selected plane, or erasing data in the selected plane after the gate select signal is provided.
A flash memory, comprising:
- a plurality of planes, each of the planes comprising a plurality of NAND strings, each of the NAND strings comprising a select transistor and a plurality of memory cells, and each of the NAND strings being arranged between a bit line and a source line;
- a controller, configured to select at least one plane among the planes, so as to perform a reading operation, a writing operation, or an erasing operation on the selected plane;
- a switch unit, having a control terminal and configured to electrically connect the bit line of an unselected plane to a reference voltage;
- and
- a driving control circuit, configured to commonly provide a gate select signal to the select transistors of the selected planes and the unselected planes after the bit line of the unselected plane being connected to the reference voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.