Patent · US Active

Oxide stress reduction for a cascode stack circuit

US8860497B1 · kind B1 · utility

13Cited by
5References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 1, 2013
Grant dateOct 14, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 1, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03K17/0822
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A reduced oxide stress cascode stack circuit includes a cascade transistor stack and dynamic bias circuits that supply an output voltage having a magnitude greater than an oxide reliability voltage of their component transistors. The reduced oxide stress cascode stack circuit also includes an offset voltage generator that provides an offset voltage based on a transient extreme of the output voltage, wherein the offset voltage is applied to the cascade transistor stack and the dynamic bias circuits to reduce component transistor voltages commensurate with the oxide reliability voltage. The reduced oxide stress cascode stack circuit further includes a bias voltage supply that modifies a bias voltage value of the cascade transistor stack and dynamic bias circuits by an amount proportional to the offset voltage. A method of reducing oxide stress in a cascode stack circuit is also provided.

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