Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both use the same cell design, consisting of floating gate MOSFETs. They differ at the circuit level depending on whether the state of the bit line or word lines is pulled high or low: in NAND flash, the relationship between the bit line and the word lines resembles a NAND gate; in NOR flash, it resembles a NOR gate.
A disassembled USB flash drive in 2005. The chip on the left is flash memory. The controller is on the right.
An EPROM, or erasable programmable read-only memory, is a type of programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip that retains its data when its power supply is switched off. Computer memory that can retrieve stored data after a power supply has been turned off and back on is called non-volatile. It is an array of floating-gate transistors individually programmed by an electronic device that supplies higher voltages than those normally used in digital circuits. Once programmed, an EPROM can be erased by exposing it to strong ultraviolet (UV) light source. EPROMs are easily recognizable by the transparent fused quartz window on the top of the package, through which the silicon chip is visible, and which permits exposure to ultraviolet light during erasing.
An EPROM: the Texas Instruments TMS27C040, a CMOS chip with 4 megabits of storage and 8-bit output (shown here in a 600-mil ceramic dual-in-line package). The TMS27C040 operates at 5 volts, but must be programmed at 13 volts.
An Intel 1702A EPROM, one of the earliest EPROM types (1971), 256 by 8 bit. The small quartz window admits UV light for erasure.