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US 6,674,667 B2Granted
Programmable fuse and antifuse and method therefor
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorLeonard Forbes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
P-channel MOSFET devices are used as reprogrammable fuse or antifuse elements in a memory decode circuit by utilizing anomalous hole generation. An applied negative gate bias voltage is sufficiently large to cause tunnel electrons to gain enough energy to exceed the band gap energy of the oxide. This causes energetic hole-electron pairs to be generated in the silicon substrate. The holes are then injected from the substrate into the oxide, where they remain trapped. A large shift in the threshold voltage of the p-channel MOSFET results. The device can subsequently be reset by applying a positive gate bias voltage. Various circuits incorporating such fuse or antifuse elements are also disclosed.
Claims26
A programmable switch element, comprising:
- a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in a substrate, the MOSFET having a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region, a channel region between the first and second source/drain regions, and a gate separated from the channel region by a gate oxide;
- a wordline coupled to the gate;
- a first transmission line coupled to the first source/drain region;
- and
- a second transmission line coupled to the second source/drain region,
- wherein the MOSFET is a programmed MOSFET having a positive charge trapped in the gate oxide such that a threshold voltage of the MOSFET is significantly altered compared to a threshold voltage of the MOSFET in an unprogrammed state.
3 more elements
A programmable switch, comprising:
- a p-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in a substrate, the MOSFET having a source region, a drain region, a channel region between the source region and the drain region, and a gate separated from the channel region by a gate oxide;
- a wordline coupled to the gate;
- a sourceline coupled to the source region;
- and
- a bitline coupled to the drain region,
- wherein the MOSFET is a programmed MOSFET having a positive charge trapped in the gate oxide such that a threshold voltage of the MOSFET is significantly altered compared to a threshold voltage of the MOSFET in an unprogrammed state.
3 more elements
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a first circuit;
- a second circuit;
- and
- a programmable switch coupled between the first circuit and the second circuit, the programmable switch comprising
- a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in a substrate, the MOSFET having a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region, a channel region between the first and second source/drain regions, and a gate separated from the channel region by a gate oxide,
- a wordline coupled to the gate,
- a first transmission line coupled to the first source/drain region, and
- a second transmission line coupled to the second source/drain region,
- wherein the MOSFET is a programmed MOSFET having a positive charge trapped in the gate oxide such that a threshold voltage of the MOSFET is significantly altered compared to a threshold voltage of the MOSFET in an unprogrammed state.
6 more elements
A programmable decoder, comprising:
- an array of programmable switches, each programmable switch comprising a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in a substrate, the MOSFET having a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region coupled to an electrical ground, a channel region between the first and second source/drain regions, and a gate separated from the channel region by a gate oxide;
- a plurality of wordlines coupled to the gates of the MOSFETs;
- and
- a plurality of transmission lines coupled to the first source/drain regions of the MOSFETs,
- wherein at least one MOSFET is a programmed MOSFET having a positive charge trapped in the gate oxide such that a threshold voltage of the MOSFET is significantly altered compared to a threshold voltage of the MOSFET in an unprogrammed state.
2 more elements
An electronic system, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including a programmable decoder comprising:
- an array of programmable switches, each programmable switch comprising a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in a substrate, the MOSFET having a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region coupled to an electrical ground, a channel region between the first and second source/drain regions, and a gate separated from the channel region by a gate oxide;
- a plurality of wordlines coupled to the gates of the MOSFETs;
- and
- a plurality of transmission lines coupled to the first source/drain regions of the MOSFETs, wherein at least one MOSFET is a programmed MOSFET having a positive charge trapped in the gate oxide such that a threshold voltage of the MOSFET is significantly altered compared to a threshold voltage of the MOSFET in an unprogrammed state.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.