Structure capable of forming a diode and associated conductive path
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorSebastian Vito Rocco Mastrangelo
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Abstract
A diode-forming layered structure comprising a semiconductor body having a layered coating thereon, said semiconductor having a surface region of given conductivity type, said coating being a dispersed metal particle-polymer coating which before electrical activation displays a high electrical resistance but after electrical activation is highly conductive, said electrical activation resulting in the formation of a diode in the zone of contact between the coating and the semiconductor body, a plurality of such layered structures, in a two-dimensional array based on a common semiconductor body, being useful in the formation of a read-only memory (ROM), an alterable read-only memory (AROM) or a random access memory (RAM).
Claims29
Layered structure comprising
- a. a semiconductor body having a surface region of a given conductivity type,
- b. an electrically switchable coating on the surface region, said coating, upon being switched ON, providing an electrically conductive path through the coating to the surface region, and
- c. a diode in the zone of contact between the coating and the surface region,
- said coating before activation being a dispersed metal particle-polymer coating in contact with said surface region, the metal of said metal particles being capable of inducing a different type of conductivity in said surface region, said metal particles before activation being insulatively encapsulated and being present in the coating in an amount sufficient to provide electrical conductivity through the coating to said surface region and to form a diode in the zone of contact between said coating and said semiconductor body surface region upon application of an activating voltage to the layered structure, said diode being formed between said surface region of a given conductivity type and a portion of said surface region doped with said metal of said metal particles to be of different conductivity type to said conductivity type.
An array comprising a plurality of layered diode-forming structures, each layered structure comprising a semiconductor body having a coating thereon, said coating being connected to an electrode means, said semiconductor body having a surface region of a given conductivity type, said coating being a dispersed metal particle-polymer coating in contact with said surface region, the metal of said metal particles being capable of inducing a different type of conductivity in said surface region, said metal particles being insulatively encapsulated and being present in the coating in an amount sufficient to provide electrical conductivity through the coating and to form a diode in the zone of contact between said coating and said semiconductor body upon application of an activating voltage to the layered structure, said semiconductor surface regions of said plurality of structures being of the same conductivity type and being electrically connected in common.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.