Method of writing data into and erasing the same from semiconductor nonvolatile memory.

摘要

The present invention provides a method of writing data into and erasing it from a semiconductor nonvolatile memory having two diffusion layers (19, 20) formed in a semiconductor substrate (11), a floating gate (13) formed on a layer between the two diffusion layers, a control gate (15) and a select gate (18) formed on a side portion of the control. The method is achieved by applying a potential enabling a channel to be formed between the two diffusion layers (19, 20) to the control gate (15), applying a potential preventing the channel from being formed therebetween to the select gate (18), injecting an electric charge into the floating gate (13) without causing current to flow between the diffusion layers and writing data into the semiconductor nonvolatile memory. Using this method, the memory can be operated with low energy and the number of times in which the data is reloaded or rewritten can be made greater. <IMAGE>