Stability in thyristor-based memory device
US6462359B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 22, 2001 |
| Grant date | Oct 8, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 22, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D18/40
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A semiconductor device having a thyristor-based memory device exhibits improved stability under adverse operating conditions related to temperature, noise, electrical disturbances and light. In one particular example embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a thyristor-based memory device that uses a shunt between a base and emitter region in a thyristor that effects a leakage current in the thyristor. The thyristor includes a capacitively coupled control port and anode and cathode end portions. Each of the end portions has an emitter region and an adjacent base region, and the current shunt is located between the emitter and base region of one of the end portions of the thyristor. The current shunt is configured and arranged to shunt low-level current between the emitter region and the adjacent base region, and in doing so improves the ability of the device to operate under adverse conditions that would, absent the shunt, result in inadvertent turn on, while keeping the standby current of the memory device to an acceptably low level.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.