Multiple-valued content-addressable memory using metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor FETs

This paper presents a design of a non-volatile multiple-valued content-addressable memory (MVCAM) using metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) FETs. An MFSFET is an important device with a non-destructive read scheme. Multiple-valued stored data are directly represented by remnant polarization states that correspond to threshold voltages of an MFSFET. Since one-digit comparison between multiple-valued input and stored data is performed by the combination of two different threshold operations, a one-digit comparator can be designed by two MFSFETs. The use of the one-digit comparator makes it possible to design a compact MVCAM cell. It is evaluated that the performance of the proposed MVCAM is superior to that of some binary and multiple-valued CAMs in terms of bit density, peripheral-circuit complexity, access speed, and functionality