Semiconductor memory device and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10083758-B2
Application number	US-201615077681-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2016
Priority date	Nov 3, 2015
Publication date	Sep 25, 2018
Grant date	Sep 25, 2018

Abstract

A memory device includes a plurality of memory cells each programmed to have any one program state among a plurality of program states divided based on a threshold voltage thereof, and a peripheral circuit for performing a main program operation on the plurality of memory cells, and performing an additional program operation on at least one memory cell of which a threshold voltage regarding the main program operation is changed while the main program operation is being performed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a memory device, the method comprising:
performing a main program operation on a plurality of memory cells to program the plurality of memory cells to one or more program states corresponding to one or more threshold voltages, the main program operation comprising applying a program pulse to the plurality of memory cells and verifying the plurality of memory cells; and
performing an additional program operation on at least one memory cell having a threshold voltage which is changed during the main program operation, the additional program operation comprising an additional verification on the at least one memory cell and an application of an additional program pulse onto the at least one memory cell on which the additional verification fails,
wherein the additional program operation is performed after the main program operation on all of the plurality of memory cells is completed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the main program operation comprises:
applying the program pulse to a selected word line; and
verifying the program state of each of the plurality memory cells.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the performing of the main program operation further comprises:
repeating the applying of the program pulse and the verifying of the program states of the memory cells until the threshold voltage of each memory cell reaches a target program state.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the verifying the program states of the memory cells comprises applying verification voltages having the same level as read voltages of the program states.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining whether the verification for each of the memory cells has passed or failed, based on a comparison between the threshold voltages of the memory cells and the verification voltages.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the additional program operation comprises:
performing the additional verification of the program states of the memory cells by using verification voltages corresponding to target program states of the memory cells; and
performing, to a selected word line, the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to program states where the additional verification fails.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the additional program operation comprises:
performing the additional verification of the program states of the memory cells by using verification voltages corresponding to target program states of the memory cells; and
performing, to a selected word line, the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to a program state where the additional verification fails and the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to a program state higher than the program state where the additional verification fails.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the additional program operation comprises:
performing the additional verification on a memory cell programmed to have an arbitrary program state among the one or more program states by using a verification voltage corresponding to the arbitrary program state;
determining, based on a result of the additional verification, whether to perform the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to the arbitrary program state; and
performing, regardless of a result of determination, the additional verification on a memory cell programmed to have another program state different from the arbitrary program state.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
performing, when the additional verification fails, the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to the arbitrary program state onto the memory cell programmed to have the arbitrary program state.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the main program operation on all of the plurality of memory cells is completed when each of all of the plurality of memory cells is programmed to have a threshold voltage corresponding to a target program state.

11. A memory device, comprising:
a plurality of memory cells each programmed to have any one program state among a plurality of program states divided based on a threshold voltage thereof; and
a peripheral circuit configured to perform a main program operation on the plurality of memory cells, and perform an additional program operation on at least one memory cell of which a threshold voltage regarding the main program operation is changed while the main program operation is being performed,
wherein the main program operation comprises applying a program pulse to the plurality of memory cells and verifying the plurality of memory cells,
wherein the additional program operation comprising an additional verification on the at least one memory cell and an application of an additional program pulse onto memory cell on which the additional verification fails, and
wherein the peripheral circuit performs the additional program operation after the main program operation on all of the plurality of memory cells is completed.

12. The memory device of claim 11 , wherein the peripheral circuit applies the program pulse to a word line to which the plurality of memory cells are connected, and verifies the program states of the plurality of memory cells by using verification voltages.

13. The memory device of claim 12 , wherein the peripheral circuit applies the program pulse to the word line to which the plurality of memory cells are connected until each of the threshold voltages of the memory cells reaches a target program state.

14. The memory device of claim 12 , wherein the peripheral circuit determines whether the verification for each of the memory cells has passed or failed, based on a comparison between the threshold voltages of the memory cells and the verification voltages.

15. The memory device of claim 12 , wherein the verification voltages have the same level as read voltages of the program states.

16. The memory device of claim 11 , wherein the peripheral circuit performs the additional verification of the program states of the plurality of memory cells by using verification voltages corresponding to target program states of the plurality of memory cells, and performs, to the word line, the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to program states where the additional verification fails.

17. The memory device of claim 11 , wherein the peripheral circuit performs the additional verification of the program states of the plurality of memory cells by using verification voltages corresponding to target program states of the plurality of memory cells, and performs, to the word line, the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to a program state where the additional verification fails and the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to a program state higher than the program state where the additional verification fails.

18. The memory device of claim 11 , wherein the peripheral circuit performs the additional verification on a memory cell programmed to have an arbitrary program state among the one or more program states by using a verification voltage corresponding to the arbitrary program state, determines, whether to perform the application of the additional program pulse corresponding to the arbitrary program state based on a result of the additional verification, and performs, regardless of a result of determination, the additional verification on a memory cell programmed to have another program s

Assignees

• Sk Hynix Inc

Inventors

• Lee Yeonghun

Classifications

• G11C16/3459 Primary

  Circuits or methods to verify correct programming of nonvolatile memory cells · CPC title

• G11C16/08

  Address circuits; Decoders; Word-line control circuits · CPC title

• G11C16/10 Primary

  Programming or data input circuits · CPC title