Patent · US Expired

Semiconductor memory device and write-once, read-only semiconductor memory array using amorphous-silicon and method therefor

US5714416A · kind A · utility

86Cited by
3References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 28, 1995
Grant dateFeb 3, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 28, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2924/0002
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A semiconductor device used as a semiconductor memory device is disclosed which is made of an amorphous silicon material that provides either a "1" or "0" memory state when the amorphous silicon material is in a non-conduction or insulating state and a "0" or "1" memory state when the amorphous silicon material is transformed, by use of a breakdown voltage applied to electrodes coupled thereto, into a conducting state. The amorphous silicon material is located adjacent to a doped semiconductor region of a semiconductor substrate separated only by a relatively thin primarily metal ohmic contact. The resulting semiconductor structure for the semiconductor device or semiconductor memory device is primarily a single level metalization type structure. A write-once, read-only semiconductor memory array is also disclosed which uses, as each memory cell of the array, one of the disclosed semiconductor memory devices. Methods for producing the semiconductor memory device and write-once, read-only semiconductor memory array are also disclosed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.