A 4 Mb Low-temperature DRAM

The potential for significant performance improvement to MOS devices and circuits by operation at cryogenic temperatures has been recognized for some time1.This improvement encompasses faster switching speed, decreased interconnection delays, decreased leakages, and possibly higher reliability. Room-temperature to liquid-nitrogen-temperature comparisons made on MOS circuits fabricated in technologies optimized for conventional systems temperatures typically show speed improvement factors in the range 1.6 to 2. Recently, one such comparison showed that low-temperature operation of DRAM at very high speeds is not precluded by noise, SER or power.