Overview of floating-gate devices, circuits, and systems

THIS Special Issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS II is focused on circuits using floating-gate MOS transistors. These devices are well known from EPROMs, EEPROMs, and flash memories. The primary principle is that the polysilicon gate of an MOS transistor completely wrapped in silicon dioxide maintains stored charge for a long time. Since the first report of floating-gate devices in 1967 [1], digital floating-gate circuits have developed into a mature technology present in every personal computer [2].