Sense amplifier layout for FinFET technology
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsYen-Huei Chen, Chien Chi Linus Tien, Kao-Cheng Lin, Jung-Hsuan Chen
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Abstract
A sense amplifier (SA) includes a semiconductor substrate having a source/drain (S/D) diffusion region; a pair of SA sensing devices both disposed in the S/D diffusion region; an SA enabling device disposed in the same S/D diffusion region as where the pair of SA sensing devices are disposed in; and a sense amplifier enabling signal (SAE) line for carrying an SAE signal, for turning on the SA enabling device to discharge one of the pair of SA sensing devices during a data read from the sense amplifier, wherein the SA enabling device is arranged to provide buffer protection for source/drain terminals of the pair of SA sensing devices.
Claims20
A sense amplifier (SA), comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having an oxide definition (OD) region;
- a pair of SA sensing devices both disposed in the OD region;
- an SA enabling device disposed in the same OD region as where the pair of SA sensing devices are disposed in;
- and
- a sense amplifier enabling signal (SAE) line for carrying an SAE signal, for turning on the SA enabling device to discharge one of the pair of SA sensing devices during a data read from the sense amplifier,
- wherein the SA enabling device is arranged to provide buffer protection for source/drain terminals of the pair of SA sensing devices.
A sense amplifier (SA), comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having an oxide definition (OD) region;
- a pair of SA sensing devices sharing the OD region;
- an SA enabling device sharing the same OD region as the pair of SA sensing devices,
- wherein the pair of SA sensing devices are placed centrally in a layout of the OD region and the SA enabling device is placed outside of the pair of SA sensing devices toward an edge of the OD region layout;
- and
- a sense amplifier enabling signal (SAE) line for carrying an SAE signal, for turning on the SA enabling device to discharge one of the pair of SA sensing devices during a data read from the sense amplifier.
A method, comprising:
- forming an oxide definition (OD) region for a sense amplifier (SA) on a semiconductor substrate;
- forming a pair of SA sensing devices on the OD region;
- forming an SA enabling device sharing the same OD region as the pair of SA sensing devices;
- and
- forming a sense amplifier enabling signal (SAE) line for carrying an SAE signal to turn on the SA enabling device to discharge one of the pair of SA sensing devices for a data read from the sense amplifier,
- wherein the SA enabling device is arranged to provide buffer protection for source/drain terminals of the pair of SA sensing devices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.