Inventors:
Peter Wung Lee - Saratoga CA
Fu-Chang Hsu - Saratoga CA
Mike Hsinyih Chen - San Jose CA
Assignee:
Aplus Flash Technology, Inc. - Santa Clara CA
International Classification:
G11C 700, H03K 190175
Abstract:
In this invention external high voltages are connected to a chip containing a flash memory that are connected to selected cells to be erased. Internal pump circuits contained on the chip are turned off while the external voltages are used. The external voltages, a high negative voltage and a high positive voltage, are connected to gates and sources respectively of selected cells to be erased by a voltage control module. The external voltages are used during manufacture during program/erase operations to perform the erase function efficiently. The internal high voltage pump circuits are used to erase flash memory cells after being assembled on a circuit board by a user. Two level shifter circuits are disclosed that form a part of the voltage control module. The level shifter circuits apply voltages to the flash memory cells and provide voltages that select and deselect the cells for erasure.