ABSTRACT
Modern-day computers owe their versatility to the semiconductor storage devices used in them. It is the ability to store programs as well as data, and the capability to quickly sort, manipulate, and file this data that makes computing platforms from personal digital assistants to supercomputers valuable in a myriad of applications. Memory devices are often categorized according to their volatility. Volatile memory devices require the power to be constantly on, in order to retain their data. Although the concept of a Read Only Memories as a nonvolatile storage element was quite useful, its production in mass quantities proved to be time consuming and cumbersome. Flash memory devices employ a dual gate structure, in which the gate further from the silicon substrate is dubbed as the control gate, and the gate closer to the silicon substrate is dubbed as the “floating gate.” Smart Media is a flash memory card standard owned by Toshiba Corporation.
