Method of checking the state of a capacitor fuse in which the voltage applied to the capacitor fuse is the same level as voltage applied to memory cells

Abstract

A method is disclosed for checking the state of a capacitor fuse in which the voltage that is applied to the capacitor fuse is made the same level as voltage that is applied to memory cells. When detecting the occurrence of cutting of a capacitor fuse, voltage HVCCF (0.7 V), which is a voltage that is half the voltage of the power supply VINTS (1.4 V) for driving a sense amplifier, is used to charge the capacitor fuse, and the difference in potential between the voltage that has accumulated in the capacitor fuse and a voltage (0.5 V) that is lower than HVCCF is amplified by a sense amplifier and then latched by a latch circuit unit. Voltage HVCCF (0.7 V) that is applied across the two electrodes of the capacitor fuse is a voltage of the same level as the voltage that is applied to normal memory cells, and the reliability of the semiconductor memory device is therefore improved.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.