摘要:
A method of fabricating a non-volatile memory cell on a semiconductor substrate is disclosed. An area of a first region of the semiconductor substrate designated for a layer of floating polysilicon is blocked while a second region of the semiconductor substrate designated for a layer of non-floating polysilicon is exposed. Exposed regions of the semiconductor substrate are doped with charges.
摘要:
Methods and apparatus for designing and producing programmable logic devices are provided. A logic design system may be used to analyze various implementations of a desired logic design for a programmable logic device integrated circuit. The logic design system may be used to produce configuration data for the programmable logic device in accordance with an optimized implementation. A logic circuit for a programmable logic device can be analyzed by taking into account the effects of hotspots, power supply voltage drops, and signal congestion on device performance. By modeling the performance of transistors and other components using position-dependent and signal-dependent variables such as temperature, voltage, and capacitance, the effects of congestion on device performance can be characterized and an optimum implementation of the logic design in a programmable logic device can be obtained.
摘要:
A programmable logic device (PLD) includes a delay circuit and a body-bias generator. The delay circuit has a delay configured to represent a delay of user circuit implement in the PLD. The body-bias generator is configured to adjust the body bias of a transistor within the user circuit. The body-bias generator adjusts the body bias of the transistor in response to a level derived from the signal propagation delay of the delay circuit.
摘要:
A lateral bipolar transistor includes an emitter region, a base region, a collector region, and a gate disposed over the base region. A bias line is connected to the gate for applying a bias voltage thereto during operation of the transistor. The polarity of the bias voltage is such as to create an accumulation layer in the base under the gate. The accumulation layer provides a low-resistance path for the transistor base current, thus reducing the base resistance of the transistor.
摘要:
Programmable fuses for integrated circuits are provided. The fuses may be based on polysilicon or crystalline silicon fuse links coated with silicide or other conductive thin films. Fuses may be formed on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. A fuse may be blown by applying a programming current to the fuse link. The silicon or polysilicon in the fuses may be provided with a p-n junction. When a fuse is programmed, the silicide or other conductive film forms an open circuit. This forces current though the underlying p-n junction. Unlike conventional silicided polysilicon fuses, fuses with p-n junctions change their qualitative behavior when programmed. Unprogrammed fuses behave like resistors, while programmed fuses behave like diodes. The presence of the p-n junction allows sensing circuitry to determine in a highly accurate qualitative fashion whether a given fuse has been programmed.
摘要:
A method of forming non-volatile memory (e.g., an EEPROM device) and a CMOS device (e.g., a RAM), on a single die or chip, and a structure formed by the method. In one embodiment, the control gate of the storage transistor as well as the isolation gate of the isolation transistor may be formed during the same manufacturing process step, and thus may be formed of the same gate poly material and may have similar thickness.
摘要:
An integrated circuit (10) provides analog and digital circuitry on a common substrate (12). A first digital circuit (14) operates in combination with an analog circuit (18) to perform a useful function. A second duplicate digital circuit (26) is disposed adjacent to the first digital circuit and operates out-of-phase with respect to the first digital circuit. The second duplicate digital circuit introduces voltage spikes equal and opposite to the voltage spikes introduced into the substrate by the first digital circuit. The equal and opposite voltage spikes tend to cancel and thereby minimize cross-talk between the digital and analog circuits. A guard ring (16,28) surrounds each of the first and second digital circuits and the analog circuit to reduce voltage spikes into the substrates. By minimizing cross-talk, the analog circuit operates without interference from the digital circuits.
摘要:
Memory elements are provided that exhibit immunity to soft error upset events when subjected to radiation strikes such as high-energy atomic particle strikes. The memory elements may each have four inverter-like transistor pairs that form a bistable element and a pair of address transistors. There may be four nodes in the transistor each of which is associated with a respective one of the four inverter-like transistor pairs. There may be two control transistors each of which is coupled between the transistors in a respective one of the inverter-like transistor pairs. During data writing operations, the two control transistors may be turned off to temporarily decouple the transistors in two of the four inverter-like transistor pairs.
摘要:
Integrated circuits are provided with circuitry such as multiplexers that can be selectively configured to route different adjustable power supply voltages to different circuit blocks on the integrated circuits. The circuit blocks may contain memory elements that are powered by the power supply voltages and that provide corresponding static output control signals at magnitudes that are determined by the power supply voltages. The control signals from the memory elements may be applied to the gates of transistors in the circuit blocks. Logic on an integrated circuit may be powered at a given power supply voltage level. The memory elements may provide their output signals at overdrive voltage levels that are elevated with respect to the given power supply voltage level. Memory elements associated with circuit blocks that contain critical paths can be overdriven at voltages that are larger than memory elements associated with circuit blocks that contain noncritical paths.
摘要:
Memory elements are provided that exhibit immunity to soft error upset events when subjected to radiation strikes such as high-energy atomic particle strikes. The memory elements may each have four inverter-like transistor pairs that form a bistable element and a pair of address transistors. There may be four nodes in the transistor each of which is associated with a respective one of the four inverter-like transistor pairs. There may be two control transistors each of which is coupled between the transistors in a respective one of the inverter-like transistor pairs. During data writing operations, the two control transistors may be turned off to temporarily decouple the transistors in two of the four inverter-like transistor pairs.