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Renesas Electronics Develops Low-Power Technology for Embedded Flash Memory Based on SOTB™ Process to Enable Energy Harvesting and Eliminate Need for Batteries

TOKYO, Japan ― Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the development of new low-power technology for use in embedded flash memory based on a 65 nanometer (nm) SOTB™ (Silicon On Thin Buried Oxide) process. Available with 1.5 MB capacity, it is the world’s first embedded 2T-MONOS (2 Transistors-Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) flash memory based on 65nm SOTB technology (Note 1). With the addition of a new circuit technology that reduces the power consumption of the peripheral circuits on flash memory, Renesas achieves read energy as low as 0.22 picojoules per bit (pJ/bit) at an operating frequency of 64 MHz – among the world’s lowest levels for embedded flash memory on an MCU. The newly developed low-power technology for peripheral circuits comprises circuit technology that (1) reduces energy consumption when sensing data in memory and (2) reduces the amount of transmission energy consumed when read data is transmitted to an external destination. Together, these advances substantially reduce energy consumption when reading data from the memory.

Renesas presented these results on June 12 at the 2019 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits in Kyoto, Japan, June 9-14, 2019.

The new SOTB-based technology has already been implemented in the Renesas R7F0E embedded controller, which is intended specifically for energy harvesting applications. Renesas’ exclusive SOTB process technology dramatically reduces power consumption in both the active and standby states. Power consumption in these two states had previously been a tradeoff: Lower power consumption in one generally meant higher power consumption in the other. The new technology substantially reduces power consumption when reading data from the flash memory. In contrast to non-SOTB 2T-MONOS flash memory, which requires a memory read current of about 50 µA/MHz, the read current is reduced to a mere approximately 6 µA/MHz. This is equivalent to a read energy level of 0.22 pJ/bit, one of the lowest levels for embedded flash memory on an MCU. The new technology also contributes greatly to the achievement of a low-active read current of 20 µA/MHz on the R7F0E, among the best in the industry.

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