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AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsToshiaki Masuhara, Osamu Minato, Katsuhiro Shimohigashi, Hiroo Masuda, Hideo Sunami, Yoshio Sakai, Yoshiaki Kamigaki, Eiji Takeda, Yoshimune Hagiwara
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A programmable semiconductor integrated circuitry including a circuit programming element is disclosed. The circuit programming element can be activated in a short-circuit mode by the irradiation of a laser or electron beam or by ion implantation so that it is converted from its original nonconductive state into a conductive or conductable state, thereby providing electrical connection between circuits and/or circuit elements of the integrated circuitry for a desired circuit programming such as circuit creation, circuit conversion or circuit substitution.
A programmable semiconductor integrated circuit including in a semiconductor substrate a regular circuit, a spare circuit, and at least one circuit programming element which has a first terminal connected to the regular circuit and a second terminal connected to the spare circuit and which, when at least a part of the regular circuit is defective, is characterized by being convertible from its original nonconductive state to a conductive state so that the defective part of the regular circuit is replaced by the spare circuit through the conversion of the circuit programming element, wherein said circuit programming element comprises a semiconductor element including two spaced low-resistance portions as said first and second terminals laterally provided on an insulating layer disposed on said semiconductor substrate and an intermediate high-resistance portion disposed adjacent to and between said low-resistance portions and electrically coupled to said low-resistance portions.
A programmable semiconductor integrated circuit including in a semiconductor substrate a regular circuit, a spare circuit, and at least one circuit programming element which has a first terminal connected to the regular circuit and a second terminal connected to the spare circuit and which, when at least a part of the regular circuit is defective, is characterized by being convertible from its original nonconductive state to a conductive state so that the defective part of the regular circuit is replaced by the spare circuit through the conversion of the circuit programming element, wherein said circuit programming element comprises a semiconductor element including two spaced diffusion regions as said first and second terminals of a first conductivity type provided in a surface region of said semiconductor substrate of a second conductivity type with an intermediate surface region portion existing therebetween.
A programmable semiconductor integrated circuit comprising a plurality of circuit programming elements each of which has first and second terminals coupled to respective circuits formed in a semiconductor substrate, each of said circuit programming elements being characterized by being convertible from its original nonconductive state to a conductive state so that a required circuit programming is effected through the conversion of predetermined ones of said circuit programming elements, wherein each of said circuit programming elements comprises a semiconductor element including two spaced low-resistance portions as said first and second terminals laterally provided on an insulating layer disposed on said semiconductor substrate and an intermediate high-resistance portion disposed adjacent to and between said low-resistance portions and electrically coupled to said low-resistance portions.
A programmable semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:
A programmable semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.