Effects of nonlinear storage capacitor on DRAM READ/WRITE

Important aspects of nonlinear storage capacitor switching and their impact on DRAM READ/WRITE operations are explained using a simple model and PSpice simulation. The voltage signal and charge-transfer rate are found to be dependent not only on the total charged stored, but also on the exact shape of the storage capacitor Q-V curve. Typical paraelectric capacitors are shown to deliver a smaller voltage signal than a linear capacitor that has the same stored charge at the operating voltage. Further, typical paraelectric capacitors have slower READ but faster WRITE compared to the linear capacitor.<>