| In the age of technology, many of us wonder how this | | | | The way such a transistor works is that it has this |
| or that gadget actually functions. I'm sure flash drives | | | | additional gate - the already mentioned FG - placed |
| make no exception. Some of them are extremely | | | | between the control gate and channel area, separated |
| small or come in funny shapes, yet they all perform the | | | | by oxide layers. These layers make it possible for |
| miraculous task of transferring and storing our most | | | | electrons - basically the data - to get trapped and |
| precious files. | | | | stored in the FG. In order to erase, a different set of |
| So what makes them tick? What happens when they | | | | voltages is applied which causes the electrons to be |
| memorize or erase? What are the secrets hiding | | | | drawn out again. When a pen drive is plugged in, the |
| inside their casings? Luckily, we also live in the age of | | | | commands given from the host machine (write/erase |
| information so I will try to satisfy your curiosity. | | | | read) decide what voltages are exercised in order to |
| The first thing that needs to be looked at is the interior. | | | | make the flash memory act the way it's suppose to. |
| If you happen to own a transparent USB drive you | | | | These processes are pretty complex so it's amazing |
| hold the advantage here. But if not, you will have to | | | | that the chips have gotten smaller and more capable |
| open up the case. In there you will see a green circuit | | | | over the years, especially with the invention of |
| board - something familiar to most people - and two | | | | multi-level memory cells. It reminds us of the rapid |
| black chips. These are the main components. One is a | | | | technological advances made with the processors of |
| microcontroller (usually on the right) and one is a flash | | | | our pen drives' larger companions - the personal |
| memory chip (usually on the left). | | | | computers. |
| The first is the small version of a computer processor | | | | The biggest USB memory on the market right now is |
| and the latter explains the terms flash drive and | | | | 64GB but soon we should see the release of 128GB |
| memory stick. But what is a flash memory? Basically, | | | | pen drives. Samsung for instance has promised one |
| it's a technology that's electrical in nature but requires | | | | since last year. How that large of a capacity is doable |
| no power to store data. It achieves this with floating | | | | though is quite a puzzle with current methods. So it's |
| gate (FG) transistors that reside inside its memory | | | | very likely that innovations are involved. Time will tell! |
| cells. | | | | |