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US 6,653,175 B1Granted
Stability in thyristor-based memory device
AssigneeT-Ram, Inc.
InventorsFarid Nemati, Hyun-Jin Cho, Scott Robins
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AssigneeT-Ram, Inc.
InventorsFarid Nemati, Hyun-Jin Cho, Scott Robins
Estimating the term…
A semiconductor device having a thyristor-based memory device exhibits improved stability under adverse operating conditions related to temperature, noise, electrical disturbances and light. In one particular example embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a thyristor-based memory device that uses a shunt that effects a leakage current in the thyristor. The thyristor includes a capacitively-coupled control port and anode and cathode end portions. Each of the end portions has an emitter region and an adjacent base region. In one implementation, the current shunt is located between the emitter and base region of one of the end portions of the thyristor and is configured and arranged to shunt low-level current therebetween. In connection with an example embodiment, it has been discovered that shunting current in this manner improves the ability of the device to operate under adverse conditions that would, absent the shunt, result in inadvertent turn on, while keeping the standby current of the memory device to an acceptably low level.
A method for stabilizing data storage for a data-storage memory circuit in a semiconductor device, the memory circuit including a thyristor device having a capacitively-coupled control port and anode and cathode end portions, each end portion including an emitter region and a base region, the capacitively-coupled control port controlled to switch the thyristor device between a current passing mode and a current blocking mode, the method comprising:
A method for stabilizing data storage for a data-storage memory circuit in a semiconductor device, the data-storage memory circuit including an array of thyristors, each thyristor having a capacitively-coupled control port and anode and cathode end portions, each end portion including an emitter region and a base region, the capacitively-coupled control port being controlled to switch the thyristor between a current passing mode and a current blocking mode, the array being adapted to store data for use in conjunction with the semiconductor device, the method comprising:
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device adapted for stabilizing data storage for a data-storage memory circuit, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.