Capacitor-based temperature-sensing device
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorShih-Lien Linus Lu
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Abstract
A temperature-sensing device configured to monitor a temperature is disclosed. The temperature-sensing device includes: a first capacitor comprising a first oxide layer with a first thickness; a second capacitor comprising a second oxide layer with a second thickness, wherein the second thickness of the second oxide layer is different from the first thickness of the first oxide layer; and a control logic circuit, coupled to the first and second capacitors, and configured to determine whether the monitored temperature is equal to or greater than a threshold temperature based on whether at least one of the first and second oxide layers breaks down.
Claims20
A device configured to monitor a temperature, comprising:
- a first capacitor comprising a first oxide layer;
- a second capacitor comprising a second oxide layer, wherein the first oxide layer is associated with a first breakdown temperature when the first capacitor is biased under a first voltage, and the second oxide layer is associated with a second breakdown temperature when the second capacitor is biased under the first voltage;
- and
- a control logic circuit, coupled to the first and second capacitors, and configured to determine whether the monitored temperature is equal to or greater than a threshold temperature based on whether at least one of the first and second oxide layers breaks down.
A device, comprising:
- a first capacitor comprising a first oxide layer;
- a second capacitor comprising a second oxide layer, wherein the first and second oxide layers have different breakdown temperatures;
- a control logic circuit, coupled to the first and second capacitors, and configured to estimate a temperature based on whether the temperature is greater than or equal to one of the breakdown temperatures of the first and second oxide layers.
A method, comprising:
- providing a plurality of capacitors, wherein each of the plurality of capacitors comprises:
- a respective metal contact, a respective semiconductor substrate, and a respective oxide layer that is associated with a respective breakdown temperature;
- applying a common voltage to the metal contacts in the plurality of capacitors to cause respective currents to flow through the plurality of capacitors;
- comparing each of the respective currents with a reference current so as to provide a respective logic state based on the respective breakdown temperature;
- and
- determining the environmental temperature using the respective logic state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.