Proposal of a FET-LET Hybrid 6T SRAM

Abstract

There is an extremely high demand for a high speed, low power, low leakage, and low noise Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM) for high performance cache memories. The energy efficiency of SRAM is of paramount importance in both high performance and ultralow-power portable, battery operated electronic systems. In this article the factors affecting the over-all speed and total energy consumption of a conventional 6T SRAM cell/array with 6 FETs, particularly roles of access tran-sistors are analyzed to highlight the needs and directions for improvement. A hybrid 6T SRAM with two access FETs being replaced by light-effect transistors (LETs) and the electrical word lines replaced by optical waveguides (OWGs) is proposed. This hybrid SRAM is analyzed to reveal its potential in im-provement of the switching speed and thus total energy con-sumption over the conventional 6T SRAM. Numerical analyses of a prototype hybrid SRAM array of 64 KB show a factor of 7 and 34 reduction in read delay and read energy consumption, respectively; and 4 and 6 in write delay and write energy con-sumption, respectively, when the access FETs are replaced by LETs. The potential impacts on the peripheral and assist cir-cuits due to this hybrid structure and application of the LETs there are also briefly discussed.