A 128 kb FeRAM macro for a contact/contactless smart card microcontroller

Abstract

For contact/contactless smart-card applications, a ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) macro must operate with supply voltages ranging from 2.7 V to 5.5 V, as standardized by ISO, and have endurance of more than 10/sup 8/ write/read cycles and memory size flexible from 32 kb to 128 kb. In addition, for contactless smart card applications, low current consumption is essential. This macro meets these requirements using: (1) 3-metal process capacitor-on-metal/via-stacked-plug (CMVP) memory cell; (2) voltage regulation architecture; (3) main/sub bit line and word line structure; and (4) dynamic-type offset sense amplifier.