EPROM Full Form

EPROM stands for Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. It is a memory chip that is non-volatile in nature that is it can hold the data even after the power supply is stopped. It can be reused again and again as it is easily programmable and erasable.

In 1967, Dawon Kahng and Simon Sze at Bell Labs proposed that the floating gate of a MOSFET(metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) could be used for the cell of a reprogrammable ROM (read-only memory). With this concept in mind, Dov Frohman of Intel invented EPROM in 1971. Frohman designed the Intel 1702, a 2048-bit EPROM, which was announced by Intel in 1971.

Characteristics

• Each and every EPROM is programmed by electronic devices.
• The data contained in EPROM is erased by exposing it to ultraviolet light.
• EPROM can store data minimum for 10-20 years.
• Erasing window is kept covered to avoid unwanted exposure to UV light to avoid accidental loss of data.

Advantages

• Easily erasable and programmable.
• Quite effective – As memory data can be erased again and again for use, therefore it eliminates the need of other external memory.

Disadvantages

• A particular selected data is not deleted instead whole data gets erased which is the cause of worry for the user.
• User needs to keep backup as whole data gets erased.
• It needs UV light to erase the data which is very rare.
• Process of erasing data is quite complex.