US 12,094,550 B2
Fast search for leaky word line
Xingyan Zhou, Shanghai (CN); Liang Li, Shanghai (CN); Zhen Qin, Shanghai (CN); William Mak, San Jose, CA (US); and Yan Li, Milpitas, CA (US)
Assigned to Sandisk Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by Western Digital Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 11, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/886,163.
Prior Publication US 2024/0055064 A1, Feb. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. G11C 29/12 (2006.01); G11C 16/04 (2006.01); G11C 16/08 (2006.01); G11C 16/10 (2006.01); G11C 16/16 (2006.01); G11C 16/34 (2006.01); H01L 25/065 (2023.01)
CPC G11C 29/12005 (2013.01) [G11C 16/0483 (2013.01); G11C 16/08 (2013.01); G11C 16/10 (2013.01); G11C 16/16 (2013.01); G11C 16/3459 (2013.01); G11C 2029/1202 (2013.01); H01L 25/0657 (2013.01); H01L 2225/06562 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a memory structure comprising non-volatile memory cells; and
one or more control circuits in communication with the memory structure, wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to:
determine whether at least one word line in a group of word lines is involved in a short circuit; and
responsive to a determination that at least one word line in the group is involved in a short circuit, repeatedly divide the group into smaller sub-groups of the word lines and test selected smaller sub-groups for a short circuit until a word line involved in the short circuit is located.