ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,499,937, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to Rambus Inc. (San Jose, Calif.).
"Flash memory device with photon assisted programming" was invented by Mark D. Kellam (Siler City, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A flash memory cell of a flash memory device is illuminated with light during programming and/or erasing. The wavelength of the light is selected such that the photons impinging on the flash memory cell have an energy that approaches the barrier height (conduction band offset) of the tunnel insulator. Illuminating the flash memory cell during programming/erase increases the tunneling current through the tunnel insulator by way of ...