# US 12,002,504 B2 · Isolation of local lines of sense amplifiers

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- Number: US 12,002,504 B2
- Document ID: US12002504B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/563,229
- Filed: 2021-12-28
- Published: 2023-06-29
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2021-12-28
- Assignees: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Applicants: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: John Schreck
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12002504B2

## CPC

- G11C 11/4091: Sense or sense/refresh amplifiers, or associated sense circuitry, e.g. for coupled bit-line precharging, equalising or isolating
- G11C 11/4085: {Word line control circuits, e.g. word line drivers, - boosters, - pull-up, - pull-down, - precharge}
- G11C 7/065: {Differential amplifiers of latching type}
- G11C 2207/005: Transfer gates, i.e. gates coupling the sense amplifier output to data lines, I/O lines or global bit lines
- G11C: STATIC STORES (semiconductor memory devices H10B)

## Abstract

Components of sense amplifiers may share contacts that couple the components to a global line via a local line. In some examples, the components may be pull-down circuits of a same sense amplifier or pull-down circuits of adjacent sense amplifiers. The shared contact may include a transistor or a resistance between the local line and the global line. In some examples, the global line may be an RNL line. The transistor or resistance may reduce the impact of voltage across the components from affecting the global line and/or reduce the impact of voltage changes on the global line on the individual components.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of sense amplifiers;
a plurality of shared contacts, wherein individual ones of the plurality of shared contacts are coupled between at least two components of a sense amplifier of the plurality of sense amplifiers or between at least one component of a first sense amplifier of the plurality of sense amplifiers and at least one component of a second sense amplifier of the plurality of sense amplifiers, and wherein the individual ones of the plurality of shared contacts comprise a local line and a resistance; and
a global line coupled to the local line via the resistance of corresponding ones of the plurality of shared contacts, wherein the resistance at least partially isolates the local lines of the individual ones of the plurality of shared contacts from the global line causing each of the plurality of sense amplifiers to be at least partially isolated from one another.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resistance comprises a transistor coupled between the local line and the global line.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the transistor is configured to receive a voltage at a gate of the transistor, wherein a resistivity of the transistor varies with the voltage applied.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein individual ones of the plurality, of shared contacts comprise a resistor coupled between the local line and the global line.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resistance comprises a resistive material provided at the shared contact.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two components of the sense amplifier or the at least one component of the first sense amplifier and the at least one component of the second sense amplifier comprise pull-down circuits of the sense amplifier.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of the pull-down circuits comprises an N-channel device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the global line is configured to provide a common voltage to the local lines of the plurality of shared contacts.

### Claim 9

An apparatus comprising:
a first sense amplifier;
a first shared contact coupled between at least two components of the first sense amplifier, wherein the first shared contact comprises a local line and a resistance; and
a global line coupled to the local line, wherein the resistance is coupled between the local line and the global line and wherein the resistance at least partially isolates the local line from the global line causing the first shared contact of the first sense amplifier to be at least partially isolated from a second shared contact of a second sense amplifier.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein resistance comprises a transistor coupled between the local line and the global line.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the resistance comprises a resistive material coupled between the local line and the global line.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the resistive material comprises a doped portion of the shared contact.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the local line comprises a local activation signal line and the global line comprises a global activation signal line.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the global activation signal line is configured to provide an active low activation voltage to the local activation signal line during at least a portion of a sense operation performed by the first sense amplifier.

### Claim 15 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least one of the at least two components comprises an N-channel field effect transistor.

### Claim 16

An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of shared contacts, individual ones of the shared contacts coupled to at least two components and comprising one of a corresponding plurality of local lines and one of a corresponding plurality of resistances; and
a global line coupled to individual ones of the plurality of local lines via individual ones of the plurality of resistances, wherein the global line is configured to provide a common voltage to the plurality of local line and wherein the plurality of resistances at least partially isolates the plurality of local lines from the global line causing the individual ones of the plurality of shared contacts to be at least partially isolated from one another.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least two components comprise pull-down circuits of a same sense amplifier.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least two components comprise pull-down circuits of adjacent sense amplifiers of a plurality of sense amplifiers.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The apparatus of claim 16, wherein individual ones of the plurality resistances comprise a transistor coupled between the corresponding plurality of local lines and the global line.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The apparatus of claim 16, wherein individual ones of the plurality resistances comprise a resistor, a resistive material, or a combination thereof coupled between the corresponding plurality of local lines and the global line.