Soft breakdown mode, low voltage, low power antifuse-based non-volatile memory cell
US8797820B2 · kind B2 · utility
6Cited by
6References
4Claims
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Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 31, 2012 |
| Grant date | Aug 5, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 3, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11C17/18
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A non-volatile memory cell using two transistors, a bit select and a sense device and an antifuse device. The antifuse device is implemented with a field-effect transistor operated to behave like an antifuse when the cell is selected and a modest programming voltage under 5.5 volts and a current under 5-μA is applied. Only a soft breakdown is needed in the thin gate oxide because a local sense transistor is used during read operations to detect the programming and amplify it for column sense amplifiers. Reading also only requires low voltages of about one volt.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.