Renesas Electronics Corp. reported the development of 90-nanometer (nm) one-transistor MONOS (1T-MONOS) flash memory technology that can be used in combination with a variety of processes, such as CMOS and bipolar CMOS DMOS (BiCDMOS), and provides high program/erase (P/E) endurance and low rewrite energy consumption.

Renesas said that it anticipates that the new flash memory circuit technology will enable it to add flash memory to automotive analog devices with improved performance and reliability.
In a release, the Company noted that this circuit technology makes possible the industry’s first P/E endurance of over 100 million cycles under a high junction temperature (Tj) (Note 2) 175 degrees C, while also delivering low rewrite energy of 0.07 mJ/8 KB (millijoule: one thousandth of a joule) for low energy consumption.

Renesas reported that the newly developed flash memory technology restrains additional process costs while providing an easy way to add flash memory to automotive analog and power devices. This means that analog circuits for connecting sensors and motors can employ devices that mix microcontroller (MCU) logic and flash memory based on the new technology. It has the potential to substantially reduce the number of chips used in motor control systems, while helping to make them more compact, lightweight, and power efficient.

Additionally, the new flash memory technology achieves over 100 million P/E cycles, making it suitable for applications such as automatic calibration or status recording using high-frequency sampling under actual usage conditions in the field.

Renesas Electronics Corp. is a supplier of microcontrollers.