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US 11,380,370 B2Granted
Semiconductor device having a charge pump
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsJun Wu, Dong Pan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and methods that have a semiconductor charge pump can be implemented in a variety of applications. Such a charge pump can have a charge pump unit core that includes a pump section and a single passgate coupled to the pump section to transfer charge, where the single passgate is a n-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor coupled directly to an input and an output of the charge pump unit core. The transfer of charge can be based on a set of clock signals. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
Claims20
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a charge pump unit core coupled to receive multiple clock signals, the charge pump unit core including:
- an input to the charge pump unit core and an output from the charge pump unit core;
- a pump section;
- a single passgate coupled to the pump section to transfer charge based on the multiple clock signals, the single passgate being a n-channel transistor having a drain and a source, with one of the drain or the source coupled directly to the input to the charge pump unit core and with the other one of the drain or the source coupled directly to the output from the charge pump unit core;
- a control transistor coupled directly to a gate of the single passgate to control the single passgate, the control transistor being a p-channel transistor;
- and
- a boost section coupled to the control transistor, a boost capacitor of the boost section coupled to a source of the control transistor.
4 more elements
A semiconductor device comprising:
- nodes to distribute clock signals;
- and
- a charge pump having a set of charge pump unit cores, each charge pump unit core coupled to receive a number of the clock signals from the nodes, the set of charge pump unit cores including a charge pump unit core having an input node coupled to an output node of another charge pump unit core of the set, each charge pump unit core including:
- an input node to the charge pump unit core and an output node from the charge pump unit core;
- a boost section;
- a pump section;
- a single passgate coupled to the pump section to transfer charge with respect to the pump section and the boost section based on the clock signals, the single passgate being a n-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor having a drain and a source, with one of the drain or the source coupled directly to the input to the charge pump unit core and with the other one of the drain or the source coupled to the output from the charge pump unit core;
- and
- a control transistor coupled directly to a gate of the single passgate to control the single passgate and coupled to the boost section, with a boost capacitor of the boost section coupled to a source of the control transistor, the control transistor being a p-channel transistor.
6 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving a sequence of clock signals at a charge pump unit core of a device, the charge pump unit core including an input node to the charge pump unit core, an output node from the charge pump unit core, a pump section, and a boost section;
- transferring charge from the pump section to the output node from the charge pump unit core through a single passgate of the charge pump unit core based on the sequence of clock signals, the single passgate being a n-channel transistor having a drain and a source, with one of the drain or the source coupled directly to the input node to the charge pump unit core and with the other one of the drain or the source coupled directly to the output node from the charge pump unit core;
- and
- controlling the single passgate using a control transistor coupled directly to a gate of the single passgate and coupled to the boost section with a boost capacitor of the boost section coupled to a source of the control transistor, the control transistor being a p-channel transistor.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.