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US 7,880,266 B2Granted
Four-terminal antifuse structure having integrated heating elements for a programmable circuit
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsByeongju Park, Subramanian S. Iyer, Chandrasekharan Kothandaraman
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Abstract
The present invention provides antifuse structures having an integrated heating element and methods of programming the same, the antifuse structures comprising first and second conductors and a dielectric layer formed between the conductors, where one or both of the conductors functions as both a conventional antifuse conductor and as a heating element for directly heating the antifuse dielectric layer during programming.
Claims32
An antifuse structure, comprising:
- a first conductor embedded within a semiconductor substrate comprising a semiconductor material, wherein said first conductor comprises a doped semiconductor material that includes said semiconductor material and at least one dopant, said first conductor having a planar upper surface throughout;
- a dielectric layer located directly on a top surface of said semiconductor substrate and having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface throughout, wherein said planar upper surface of said first conductor contacts said planar bottom surface of said dielectric layer, wherein said first conductor is adapted to receive a first voltage potential (V1) and a second voltage potential (V2) and to heat said dielectric layer in response to V1 and V2;
- a second conductor located above said semiconductor substrate and separated from said first conductor by said dielectric layer and having a planar lower surface throughout, wherein said planar lower surface of said second conductor contacts said planar top surface of said dielectric layer, and the second conductor is adapted to receive a third voltage potential (V3) and a fourth voltage potential (V4) and to heat said dielectric layer in response to V3 and V4;
- a first contact structure that is in direct contact with a first portion of a surface of said second conductor and does not contact said dielectric layer and is configured to provide said third voltage potential (V3);
- and
- a second contact structure that is in direct contact with a second portion of said surface of said second semiconductor and does not contact said dielectric layer and is configured to provide said fourth voltage potential (V4), wherein said second conductor is a single contiguous structure that extends from said first portion of said surface of said second conductor to said second portion of said surface of said second conductor.
3 more elements
A programmable circuit, comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate comprising a semiconductor material;
- and
- an antifuse formed on the semiconductor substrate, the antifuse comprising:
- a first conductor embedded within said semiconductor substrate, wherein said first conductor comprises a doped semiconductor material that includes said semiconductor material and at least one dopant, said first conductor having a planar upper surface throughout;
- a dielectric layer located directly on a top surface of said semiconductor substrate and having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface throughout, wherein said planar upper surface of said first conductor contacts said planar bottom surface of said dielectric layer, and said first conductor is adapted to receive a first voltage potential (V1) and a second voltage potential (V2) and to heat said dielectric layer in response to V1 and V2;
- a second conductor located above said semiconductor substrate and separated from said first conductor by said dielectric layer and having a planar lower surface throughout, wherein said planar lower surface of said second conductor contacts said planar top surface of said dielectric layer, and the second conductor is adapted to receive a third voltage potential (V3) and a fourth voltage potential (V4) and to heat said dielectric layer in response to V3 and V4;
- a first contact structure that is in direct contact with a first portion of a surface of said second conductor and does not contact said dielectric layer and is configured to provide said third voltage potential (V3);
- and
- a second contact structure that is in direct contact with a second portion of said surface of said second semiconductor and does not contact said dielectric layer and is configured to provide said fourth voltage potential (V4), wherein said second conductor is a single contiguous structure that extends from said first portion of said surface of said second conductor to said second portion of said surface of said second conductor.
6 more elements
A method of programming an antifuse, comprising:
- providing an antifuse having a plurality of integrated heating elements, said antifuse including:
- a first conductor embedded within a semiconductor substrate comprising a semiconductor material, wherein said first conductor comprises a doped semiconductor material that includes said semiconductor material and at least one dopant, said first conductor having a planar upper surface throughout;
- a dielectric layer located directly on a top surface of said semiconductor substrate and having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface throughout, wherein said planar upper surface of said first conductor contacts said planar bottom surface of said dielectric layer;
- a second conductor located above said semiconductor substrate and separated from said first conductor by said dielectric layer and having a planar lower surface throughout, wherein said planar lower surface of said second conductor contacts said planar top surface of said dielectric layer, and said second conductor is adapted to receive a third voltage potential (V3) and a fourth voltage potential (V4) and to heat said dielectric layer in response to V3 and V4;
- a first contact structure that is in direct contact with a first portion of a surface of said second conductor and does not contact said dielectric layer;
- and
- a second contact structure that is in direct contact with a second portion of said surface of said second semiconductor and does not contact said dielectric layer, wherein said second conductor is a single contiguous structure that extends from said first portion of said surface of said second conductor to said second portion of said surface of said second conductor;
- applying a first voltage potential (V1) to a first section of the first conductor of the antifuse;
- applying a second voltage potential (V2) to a second section of the first conductor;
- applying said third voltage potential (V3) to said first contact structure of the antifuse;
- applying said fourth voltage potential (V4) to said second contact structure;
- passing a first current (I1) through the first conductor, wherein I1∝[V1−V2];
- passing a second current (I2) through the second conductor, wherein I2∝[V3−V4];
- generating heat energy, wherein the heat energy is proportional to I1 and I2;
- and
- directly heating said dielectric layer of the antifuse with the heat energy.
13 more elements
The method of 25, wherein said dielectric layer is directly heated for an amount of time corresponding to a temperature/tBD relationship of the dielectric and a temperature/VBD relationship of the dielectric.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.