Seminar Report 09

FRAM

INTRODUCTION:
A ferroelectric memory cell consists of a ferroelectric
capacitor and a MOS transistor. Its construction is similar to
the storage cell of a DRAM. The difference is in the
dielectric properties of the material between the capacitor's
electrodes. This material has a high dielectric constant and
can be polarized by an electric field. The polarisation
remains until it gets reversed by an opposite electrical field.
This makes the memory non-volatile. Note that ferroelectric
material, despite its name, does not necessarily contain
iron.

The

most

well-known

ferroelectric

substance

is

BaTiO3.

A Ferroelectric memory cell consists of a ferroelectric

capacitor and a MOS transistor. Its construction is similar to
the storage cell of a DRAM. The difference is in the
dielectric properties of the material between the capacitor's
electrodes. This material has a high dielectric constant and
can be polarized by an electric field. The polarisation

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FRAM

remains until it gets reversed by an opposite electrical field.

This makes the memory non-volatile.

Data is read by applying an electric field to the

capacitor. If this switches the cell into the opposite state
(flipping over the electrical dipoles in the ferroelectric
material) then more charge is moved than if the cell was
not flipped. This can be detected and amplified by sense
amplifiers. Reading destroys the contents of a cell which
must therefore be written back after a read. This is similar
to the precharge operation in DRAM, though it only needs to
be done after a read rather than periodically as with DRAM
refresh.

FRAM is found mainly in consumer devices and

because of its low power requirements, could also be used
in devices that only need to activate for brief periods. FRAM
allows systems to retain information even when power is
lost, without resorting to batteries, EEPROM, or flash.
Access times are the same as for standard SRAM, so there's
no delay-at-write access as there is for EEPROM or flash. In
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FRAM

addition, the number of write cycles supported by the FRAM

components

is

nearly

unlimitedup

to

10

billion

read/writes. FRAM combines the advantages of SRAM writing is roughly as fast as reading, and EPROM - nonvolatility and in-circuit programmability

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FRAM

FRAM Technology
When an electric field is applied to a ferroelectric
crystal, the central atom moves in the direction of the field.
As the atom moves within the crystal, it passes through an
energy barrier, causing a charge spike. Internal circuits
sense the charge spike and set the memory. If the electric
field is removed from the crystal, the central atom stays in
position, preserving the state of the memory. Therefore, the
FRAM memory needs no periodic refresh and when power
fails FRAM memory retains its data. It's fast, and doesn't
wear out!
To increase the memory capacity, the cell size must
always be reduced, and the design, process, and materials
have

been

improved

aggressively

for

this

purpose.

ferroelectric RAM products (FRAMs) are the most advanced

of the flash challengers. The pioneer, Ramtron International
Corp. (Colorado Springs, Colo.), has been selling FRAM chips
since 1992. Their memory capacities are low, however, the
largest

being

256Kbstill

small

fraction

of

the

multimegabit chips offered by the major flash memory

makers. In current commercial FRAMs, the interconnects
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FRAM

that link individual transistors into circuits are 0.5 m wide

and operate at 3 V. Narrower interconnects are desirable so
that memory cells may be made smaller and be packed in
greater numbers onto an IC. Ramtron's FRAMs are made by
Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo, which also sells its own FRAM products,
mostly as embedded memory in microcontrollers and smart
cards.

The biggest hurdle for FRAM developers is to advance

the manufacturing technology to smaller geometries and
lower voltages. R&D at Ramtron is aiming at 0.35-m
interconnect

widths

and

1.8-V

operation.

And

last

November, Texas Instruments Inc. (Dallas) announced that

it had built a 64Mb FRAM in a standard 0.13-m CMOS
process, using technology licensed from Ramtron.

At the core of an FRAM cell is a capacitor filled with a

ferroelectric crystalline material, usually a lead-zirconiumtitanate (PZT) compound .Each unit cell (a crystal's basic
building block) of a ferroelectric material has a permanent
electric field around it. That's because the geometric center
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FRAM

of all the electrons in the unit cell is at a different spot from

the geometric center of all the protons. It's as though two
small particles with equal and opposite charges are
separated from each other by a short distancein short, it
is an electric dipole.
Many materials form electric dipoles. But what sets
ferroelectric materials apart from other dipolar materials is
that millions of dipoles, in a region called a domain, line up
to point in the same direction. When an electric field is
applied in the opposite direction, the dipoles flip over so
that they again point in the direction of the electric field.
Each unit cell of PZT is shaped like an elongated cube.
At each of the cube's eight corners is an atom of lead; in
the center of each cube face is an oxygen atom; and in the
interior of the cube is an atom of either zirconium or
titanium. This last has two stable positions, explains Mike
Alwais, Ramtron's vice president of FRAM products: "One is
near the cube's top face and the other is near the bottom."
Apply an electric field and the atoms in the interiors of
all the unit cells in the ferroelectric material move in the
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FRAM

field's direction. Remove the field and the atoms stay put.
The positions of the atoms in the cubes store the bit of
data, a binary 1 or 0.
To read a bit, an electric field is applied. If the atoms
are near the cube "floors" and the electric field pushes
them to the top, the cell gives off a current pulse. This
pulse, representing a stored 1 or 0, is detected by a sense
amplifier.

Contributing

to

pulse

amplitude

are

the

movements of the interior atoms in the crystals of the

ferroelectric material and the capacitor itself. If the atoms
are already near their cubes' "ceilings," they don't budge
when the field is applied and the cell gives off a smaller
pulse, due only to the electric charges stored on the cell
capacitor.
Reading an FRAM cell destroys the data stored in its
capacitor. So after the bit is read, the sense amplifier writes
the data back into the cell, just as in a DRAM.
The FRAM in fact is like the DRAM in every way but
one: the DRAM cell's capacitor is of a nonferroelectric
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FRAM

material, usually silicon dioxide. When data is stored as

charge on the DRAM cell's capacitor, the charge leaks away
into the silicon substrate almost immediatelyunless it is
rewritten several times a second. That requirement drives
up power consumption, and of course when the power is
turned off, the charge stored in the capacitors quickly
disappears.
Because the basic operation and structure of the FRAM
and the DRAM are so similar, Alwais expects that FRAMs will
eventually run as fast as DRAMs with the
same memory capacity and cell size. Texas
Instruments

is

interested

in

FRAMs

for

embedded applicationsfor example, for onchip storage of the operating instructions for
digital signal processors and microcontrollers.

Memory Basic
FRAM offers a unique set of features relative to other
memory

technologies.

Traditional

mainstream

semiconductor memories can be divided into two primary

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FRAM

categories -- volatile and nonvolatile. Volatile memories

include SRAM (static random access memory) and DRAM
(dynamic random access memory). They share the property
that they lose their contents after power is removed from
the electronic system. RAM type devices are very easy to
use, and are high performing, but they share the annoying
quirk of losing their mind when the lights go out.

Nonvolatile memories do not lose their contents when

power

is

removed.

However

all

of

the

mainstream

nonvolatile memories share a common ancestry that

derives from ROM (read only memory) technology. The
disadvantage is that read only memory is not easy to write
it's impossible. All of its descendants make it very difficult
to

write

new

information

into

them.

They

include

technologies called EPROM (almost obsolete now), EEPROM,

and Flash. ROM based technologies are very slow to
write.Another disadvantage is that ROM based memories
wear out after being written a small number of times, and
use a large amounts of power to write.

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FRAM

offers

FRAM

features

consistent

with

RAM

technology, but is nonvolatile like a ROM technology. FRAM

bridges the gap between the two categories and creates
something completely new -- a nonvolatile RAM.

FRAM SPECIFATION :
4MB FRAM Nonvolatile Memory Module
Features:
Organization:4 banks >< 32k >< 32 bits
Highest density: Ferroelectric Memory over 22.4kb/mm
10 year data retension at 85o C
Unlimited read /write cycles.
Advanced high reliability ferroelectric process
SRAM & DRAM Compatible
70ns Access time
130ns Cycle time.
Equal access & cycle time for Read and Writes.
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FRAM

LOW POWER OPERATION:

2.7V to 3.6V operation .
15mA Active Current.
15microA stand by Current.

The latest 32-Mbit ferroelectric RAM highest density

RAM reported has been developed by Toshiba Corp. This
FRAM uses a new chain cell structure that links together
eight memory cells .Each cell has a ferroelectric capacitor
and field effect transistor in parallel and not in series.The
32Mbit FRAM is made on0.2micron processing ,which
provides 1.875square micron cell size on a 96 square
millimetre die.

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FRAM

APPLICATIONS:
FRAM is faster than flash memory,because it is fast
memory with a very low power requirement, it is expected
to have many applications in small consumer devices such
as personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld phones,
power meters, and smart card, and in security systems.
A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit
card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with
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FRAM

data, used for telephone calling, electronic cash payments,

and other applications, and then periodically refreshed for
additional use. . A Smart Card is an IC card that contains a
microcomputer,
ferroelectric

storage

RAM

(FRAM)

circuit,
has

and
been

RF

circuit.

developed

The
as

nonvolatile memory that satisfies the above requirements.

An FRAM embedded in an LSI must operate as a low-voltage
peripheral logic IC. We have developed a new FRAM sensing
scheme that can read bit-line potentials close to the GND
potential.
Currently or soon, you may be able to use a smart card to:

Dial a connection on a mobile telephone and be charged on

a per-call basis

Establish your identity when logging on to an Internet

access provider or to an online bank

Pay for parking at parking meters or to get on subways,

trains, or buses

Give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a

form

Make small purchases at electronic stores on the Web (a

kind of cybercash)

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FRAM

Buy gasoline at a gasoline station

Fujitsu has developed Smart Cards and other high-

security devices that use secure ferroelectric RAM (FRAM)

memory. This type of memory has an anti-tampering
function and is used to keep the keys and parameters
needed for encryption/decryption algorithms, modify the
keys and parameters for application services, store a highspeed calculation table for encryption/decryption systems,
and support a firewall between applications.

Contactless Smart Cards in particular have rapidly

come into wide use because they are easy to use, can
perform high-speed processing, and can be used in a wide
variety of applications. In keeping with this trend, Fujitsu
has produced various FRAM-embedded (ferroelectric-RAMembedded) LSIs for Contactless Smart Cards.

Current applications for FRAM memory products can be

divided into the following four categories:

Data collection and logging

configuration storage

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FRAM

nonvolatile buffer

SRAM replacement & Expansion

Data Collection & Logging

FRAM allows system designers to write data to

nonvolatile memory faster and more often -- a luxury not

afforded to users of EEPROMs.

Data collection consists of the acquisition and storage

of data, which must be retained in the absence of power
(not temporary or scratchpad in nature). These are
systems, or subsystems that have the primary function of
collecting data that varies over time. In most cases, a
history of the changes is important.
End system applications: metering (electric, gas, water,
flow),

RF/ID,

application

instrumentation,
such

as

and

certain

airbag

automotive
controllers.

Configuration Storage

FRAM helps system designers overcome the woes of

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FRAM

sudden power loss by providing the flexibility to store

configuration information in real time -- not just on power
down.
Configuration storage deals with the tracking of a
system as it changes over time. The goal is either to restore
its state on power up, or to identify the cause of an error. In
general, data collection is often the function of a system or
subsystem, where as configuration storage is a low level
engineering function regardless of the system type.
End

system

applications:

laser

printers

and

copiers,

industrial process control, networking, cable modems and

set top boxes, and white goods

Nonvolatile Buffer

FRAM can store operating data quickly, before transmitting

or storing in other nonvolatile media.

In this case, information is being sent from one

subsystem to another, this information is critical and should
not be lost if power fails. In some cases, the target system
is a larger storage device. FRAM, with its fast write and high
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FRAM

endurance allows the user to store data before it is sent on

to another system.
End system applications: industrial systems and in banking
systems such as ATM machines, future applications will
include hard disk drives with nonvolatile caching.

SRAM Replacement & Expansion

FRAM's fast write and nonvolatile features allow

system designers to combine SRAM and EEPROM into one

device,

or

simply

expand

SRAM.

In many cases, a system uses multiple memory types.

FRAM offers the ability to perform ROM, RAM, and EEPROM
functions with one device, saving space, power and
sometimes

cost.

The

most

common

example

is

an

embedded microcontroller with external serial EEPROM.

FRAM can replace the EEPROM, and offer additional SRAM
functionality to the micro as well.
End system applications: all-in-one memories tend to occur
in portable applications, and in any system using low-end
(resource
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microcontrollers.
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FRAM

FUTURE APPLICATIONS:
APPLICATIONS OF FRAM ON AUTOMOTIVE
APPLICATIONS:Today's passenger automobiles and trucks offer
increased electronic content and this trend is expected to
accelerate. With some 55 million passenger vehicles sold
worldwide in 2002 and numerous applications that can
benefit from FRAM technology, the automotive market is
certainly very attractive for FRAM. The average low end
auto has five to ten electronic control units while a luxury
car may have fifty to sixty. Recent introductions include
improved ABS systems with traction control, continuously
variable transmissions, electronic shift, dynamic stability

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FRAM

control, and digital radio platforms. In the coming years,

new electronic applications will include adaptive cruise
control with collision avoidance, DVD players with car
navigation, and control by wire (x-by-wire), and crash
recording (black-box) technology. Additional sophisticated
network technologies will continue to improve behind the
scenes automation and performance.

The challenge of handling and storing data is a

pervasive

theme

in

the

proliferation

of

automotive

electronics. One implication is that increased data handling

results in an increase in the frequency of data updates.
Existing memory choices are often inadequate in managing
the frequent updates. FRAM, with fast write and effectively
unlimited

endurance

offers

unique

benefits

for

data

handling and storage intensive applications. Consequently

it is expected
applications

to
in

be widely adopted in
the

coming

automotive
years.

The real opportunities for FRAM:

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Below
automotive

are

FRAM

some

of

development

the

applications

engineers

are

for

which

evaluating

or

designing with FRAM products today.

Airbag
A principle feature of airbag and restraint systems in
the near future will be crash recorders, commonly know as
black-boxes. The automotive black box will be integrated
into the airbag or restraint system, it is unlikely to be a
separate assembly such as the aircraft black box. This
architecture is attractive because the sensor data that is
critical for a crash recorder is largely available to the
controller or can be accessed via busses already in place
such as CAN.
A crash recorder is a data logger. It may be called on
to collect data frequently over a long period of time in a
circular buffer, or to respond very quickly based on sensor
readings. Ideally the crash recorder would offer both
capabilities. In this rugged environment the data must be
stored in a true nonvolatile memory as any form of battery
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backup

will

FRAM

present

crash

survivability

challenges.

Technologies such as Flash face performance problems as

they provide write endurance which is limited when it
comes to long term data collection and they are far too
slow to store data in the moment of impact. Crash statistics
show high percentages of serious crashes result in a power
outage during the crash, therefore data must be stored
instantly and in a non-volatile state, before power leaves
the vehicle and data is lost. Ramtron is a member of the
IEEE P1616 committee to define a standard for Motor
Vehicle Event Data Recorders (MEVDR). As a result we have
gained valuable insight into data recorder requirements.
Today crash recorders are being designed with FRAM
products from 16Kb to 64Kb, typically with a SPI interface
such as the FM25640.

Telematics/navigation
Telematic functions are increasingly part of a high end
vehicle

electronics

package.

These

systems

provide

dynamic maps that allow routing to be adjusted based on

traffic patterns or other criteria. FRAM memories are used
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FRAM

today in such system to store navigation waypoints,

bookmarks etc. 16Kb memories are commonly used in this
application. Last year Matsushita selected Ramtron's FRAM
for its in-car navigation system. The 16K FM25C160s fast
read/write and high-endurance features provide Matsushita
mobile automotive devices with a distinctive resume play
function. The FM25C160 stores scene changes and unique
user data upon power down, enabling the user to continue
where they left off when the unit is powered back up.

Entertainment
Digital car radios are gaining in popularity. Such radios
can download station information and store it in nonvolatile
memory. The uncertainty of changes in this data makes it
risky to use a limited endurance memory such as EEPROM.
A common work-around is to maintain such download data
in RAM and write it when power is turned off. This requires
the use of a large capacitor which can maintain power on
the EEPROM while it is written. While inexpensive, these
capacitors are physically bulky and undesirable in ever
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FRAM

shrinking electronic radios. Matsushita designed a 16K

FRAM

into

their

in-car

entertainment

systems.

The

FM25C160 saves system board space by eliminating

components and allowing a reduced capacitor size, which
would not be possible with alternative memory solutions.

Instrument Cluster

Instrument clusters provide varying capabilities. The

presence of a low density nonvolatile memory is common,
and tracking elapsed miles often leads to frequent writes.
The problem of intermittent data errors is frequently
experienced

by

users

in

this

application,

possibly

associated with electrical noise interfering with slower

writing nonvolatile memories. A 4Kb FRAM such as the
FM24C04 has been used in such instrumentation with great
success and provides robust operating and data integrity in
a noisy environment.

Tire Pressure
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Automobiles

FRAM

are

adopting

tire

pressure

sensing

technology in order to mitigate the risks associated with

driving with under-inflated tires. Today this technology is
implemented by sensing rotational differences between
tires and inferring tire pressure. Future systems will likely
involve direct sensor technology that can measure tire
pressure. A natural extension of this data generation is
logging. A historical record of tire pressures could present
compelling documentation in determining liability should
tire pressure contribute to an accident. Tire pressure logs
might be implemented in the car and also in the tire, and
FRAM is an ideal solution for this application given its
unlimited ability to write in low power environments, such
as that of a tire-based historical logger.

ABS - Stability Control

ABS has evolved from its basic form to include traction

control and more recently to include stability control.
Traction control uses the wheel slip information already

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FRAM

produced by ABS sensors to regulate power to prevent

spinning tires due to slippery conditions. Stability control is
a more sophisticated variety where power is regulated to
each wheel depending on driving conditions. Based on
speed, turn radius and road conditions the rotation of
individual wheels is managed. Such systems are very
sophisticated and involve learning algorithms. To use a
FRAM for example in this application would be more
suitable for users since FRAM allows for unrestricted
updates of system data. Currently temperatures for FRAM
are specified to 85C and ABS system electronics must
normally operate at 125C, however the road map for FRAM
products

includes

meeting

these

temperature

requirements.

Power Train
Like

stability

control,

power

train

management

systems are ever more adaptive and can benefit from a

nonvolatile memory that can be updated quickly and often.
Also like ABS, these systems operate at 125C and will

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FRAM

depend on a future generation of FRAM products, most

likely 256Kb parts rated at 125C or higher.

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FRAM

ADVANTAGES:
1.

FRAM allows systems to retain information even when

power is lost, without resorting to batteries, EEPROM, or
flash.

2.

Access times are the same as for standard SRAM, so

there's no delay-at-write access as there is for EEPROM
or flash.

3.

Low power consumption , low voltage operation and

high write

endurance make it superior than other non-

volatile memories like EEPROM & FLASH

4.

It is less expensive than magnetic memories which

require 4 extra mask

DISADVANTAGE:
1. Present high cost .
2. Low density compared to DRAM & SRAM.

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FRAM

FUTURE OF FRAM:
Development of FRAM in full range of densities
and operating temperatures to support automotive data
handling and storage applications will find a wide variety of
applications as said above.

In addition, the FRAM technology can easily be

combined with logic and mixed signal technologies to offer
more cost effective integrated solutions in the future.

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FRAM

CONCLUSION

The biggest obstacle to large memories is their large

power consumption, particularly for wireless applications.
But

FRAMs advantage is the low power consumption

compared to other new memory technologies , and hence

economic. The wide range of applications it has in case of
SMART cards and data storage applications, together with
the future automotive applications make it one of the best
memories among the new memory technologies among
ferromagnetic and ovonic memories.

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REFERENCES
Information Technology Magazine
http://www.ieee.org
http://www.eetuk.com
http://www.savemyfiles.com

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FRAM

ABSTRACT
FRAM is a type of non-volatile read/write random
access

semiconductor

memory.

FRAM

combines

the

advantages of SRAM writing is roughly as fast as reading,

and EPROM

non-volatility and in-circuit programmability.

FRAM (ferroelectric RAM) is a random access memory that

combines the fast read and write access of dynamic RAM
(DRAM) - the most common kind of personal computer
memory - with the ability to retain data when power is
turned off (as do other non-volatile memory devices such as
ROM and flash memory). Because FRAM is not as dense
(can not store as much ata in the same space) as DRAM and
SRAM, it is not likely replace these technologies. It is fast
memory with a very low power requirement, it is expected
to have many applications in small consumer devices such
as personal digital assistants (PDA), handheld phones,
power meters, and smart card, and in security systems.
FRAM is faster than flash memory. It is also expected to

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FRAM

replace EEPROM and SRAM for some applications and to

become a key component in future wireless products.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

FRAM TECHNOLOGY

MEMORY BASICS

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES.

APPLICATIONS OF FRAM.
(a)CURRRENT APPLICATIONS
(b)FUTURE APPLICATIONS

CONCLUSION

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FRAM

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I

express

Agnisarman

my

sincere

thanks

to

Prof.

M.N

Namboothiri (Head of the Department,

Computer Science and Engineering, MESCE), Mr. Sminesh

(Staff incharge) for their kind
co-operation for presenting the seminar.

I also extend my sincere thanks to all other members

of the faculty of Computer Science and Engineering
Department and my friends for their co-operation and
encouragement.

ANUSHA.R.C

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