Patent · US Expired

Thyristor with lightly-doped emitter

US6703646B1 · kind B1 · utility

33Cited by
4References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 24, 2002
Grant dateMar 9, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 27, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10D86/201
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A thyristor-based semiconductor device exhibits a relatively increased base-emitter capacitance. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a base region and an adjacent emitter region of a thyristor are doped such that the emitter region has a lightly-doped portion having a light dopant concentration, relative to the base region. In one embodiment, the thyristor is implemented in a memory circuit, wherein the emitter region is coupled to a reference voltage line and a control port is arranged for capacitively coupling to the thyristor for controlling current flow therein. In another implementation, the thyristor is formed on a buried insulator layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure. With these approaches, current flow in the thyristor, e.g., for data storage therein, can be tightly controlled.

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