Capacitive matrix arrangement and method for actuation thereof

• US 10,504,575 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2017
• Issued: 12/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semron GmbH
• Original Assignee: Aron Kirschen, Kai-Uwe Demasius
• Inventors: Kirschen, Aron, Demasius, Kai-Uwe
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Uyen B
• Application Number:
  US16/340,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20190237120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 791 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/005 based on electrowetting
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134336 Matrix
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/167 by electrophoresis
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1676 Electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/122 having a particular pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/048 Activation functions
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/065 Analogue means
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/22 using ferroelectric elements
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/221 using ferroelectric capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/2257 Word-line or row circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/24 using capacitors G11C11/22 takes precedence; using a combination of semiconductor devices and capacitors G11C11/34, e.g. G11C11/40
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/54 using elements simulating biological cells, e.g. neuron
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/53271 containing semiconductor material, e.g. polysilicon
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 28/60 Electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10B 53/30 characterised by the memory core region

Abstract

The invention relates to a capacitive matrix arrangement that comprises an active medium, which is arranged in a layer between word lines and bit lines whose crossing points have capacitor cells, selectable by actuation of the word lines and bit lines, arranged at them with the interposed active medium, and to an actuation method, wherein the invention is based on the object of combining active actuation of capacitive elements in a matrix with the advantages of passive actuation. This is achieved by virtue of the word lines having a specific variable Debye length, i.e. consisting of a material with a variable mobile charge carrier concentration, and being arranged between the active medium and a non-active dielectric. The actuation is effected by controlling the action of an electrical field.

Claims

1. A capacitive matrix arrangement, comprising an active medium, which is embedded in a layer between a first set and a second set of respective parallel addressing electrodes, wherein the addressing electrodes of the first set form word lines and the addressing electrodes of the second set form bit lines of the capacitive matrix arrangement, wherein the word lines and the bit lines intersect at crossing points and capacitor cells with an intervening active medium are arranged at the crossing points, being selectable by actuation of the word lines and the bit lines, wherein word lines at least in an area of the crossing points consist of a material with variable Debye length, i.e., a material with variable mobile charge carrier concentration, and are arranged between the active medium and a non-active dielectric, forming a layered arrangement, and the layered arrangement is situated between a reference electrode and the bit lines, and wherein

a first layer of the layered arrangement is chosen such that the active medium as seen from a word line is situated on a side);

with the reference electrode and

alternatively a second layer of the layered arrangement is chosen such that the active medium as seen from the word line is situated on with the bit lines.

2. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference electrode consists of multiple striplike strip reference electrodes, wherein the strip reference electrodes are formed corresponding to the bit lines and are individually actuable.

3. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein the word lines consist of a semiconductor and are provided with p-doped and n-doped regions, wherein a level of doping is chosen such that Fermi levels of the p-doped and n-doped regions have a same distance from a Fermi level of the word lines and a band model of a resulting psn-junction possesses symmetry.

4. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein the p-doped and n-doped regions are situated either to a side of a longitudinal extension of a respective word line or at an end face.

5. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein the strip reference electrodes and the bit lines cross each other and at the crossing points a strip reference electrode is connected a word line across the p-doped region and a bit line across the n-doped region or the strip reference electrode is connected across the n-doped region and the bit line across the p-doped region, respectively.

6. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the word lines consist of a semiconductor and are provided with different metal regions forming the a Schottky contacts, wherein a work function of the metal regions is chosen such that distances of Fermi levels between the metal regions and the semiconductor are identical and a band model is symmetrical.

7. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein a material with a metal-insulator junction is used for the word lines.

8. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the active medium is an electrically polarizable dielectric storage material for a storage of data.

9. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the active medium is a liquid-based or electrophoretic display means.

10. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein the capacitive matrix arrangement involves a modeling of an activation function of an artificial neuron with a sigmoidal transmission behavior of the word lines or with a nonlinearity of the generated electric field.

11. A method for an actuation of a capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein a capacitor arrangement situated at a crossing point between a word line and a bit line is selected by a potential selection of a word line being selected and corresponding to the crossing point and a bit line being selected and corresponding to the crossing point, wherein when setting a state of the active medium

an electric field is generated in a capacitor cell being selected by

applying a potential difference between the bit line being selected and the reference electrode in a case of the first layer of the layered arrangement and selecting the potential of the word line being selected to be identical to the reference electrode,

or, in a case of the second layer of the layered arrangement, by selecting the potential of the word line to be identical to the bit line, and by generating in the word line being selected a long Debye-length, i.e., a mobile charge carrier concentration which is so low that a sufficiently strong field is transmitted, producing an action in the active medium such that an electric field is transmitted at the crossing point to the bit line being selected, while at a word lines not being selected a short Debye-length is generated, i.e., a mobile charge carrier concentration which is so high that no action is produced in the active medium, and thus a poor transmission is established,

or no potential difference is present between the bit line being selected and the reference electrode, and the potential of the word line being selected is chosen to be different from the reference electrode and the bit line, and

the Debye-length of the word line is chosen to be short, and field lines of an electric field respectively end principally at the word line, so that the action is produced in the active medium, wherein a long Debye-length is established at the word lines not selected, so that the action is produced in the active medium, or

the Debye-length in the word lines is held constant and the potentials on the word lines, the bit lines and strip reference electrodes are chosen to be such that a potential difference between the bit line and the word line at the selected capacitor cell is present as a full voltage and at a capacitor cells not selected a portion of the full voltage is present, preferably ⅓

, and a nonlinearity of the generated electric field ensures a suppression of a field in the capacitor cells not selected, and when determining a state of an active medium in the capacitor cell being selected, an electric field s measured by choosing the potentials of the bit lines, the strip reference electrodes and the word lines to be identical, and

in the case of the first layer of the layered arrangement, a current is measured in the selected bit line that is generated during a changing of the Debye-length in the selected word line, and

in the case of the second layer of the layered arrangement, a current is measured in a strip reference electrode corresponding to the crossing point.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a actuation of the complete matrix

in the case of the first layer of the layered arrangement, is done in such a way that, when a potential difference is present between a strip reference electrode corresponding to the crossing point and a corresponding bit line, an identical potential to that of the bit line being selected is applied to the word lines not being selected and strip reference electrodes not selected, and bit lines not being selected are provided with an identical potential to a corresponding strip reference electrode, and

in the case of the second layer of the layered arrangement, it is done in such a way that, when the potential difference is present between a strip reference electrode corresponding to the crossing point and the corresponding bit line, an identical potential to the corresponding strip reference electrode is applied to the word lines not being selected and the bit lines not being selected, and other strip reference electrodes are provided with the identical potential to that of the bit line being selected.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein an actuation of the complete matrix occurs in such a way that, when no potential difference is present between the selected bit line and selected strip reference electrode, with the strip reference electrodes and bit lines being arranged in parallel, bit lines not being selected and strip reference electrodes not being selected are placed at a same potential as the selected word line and the potential of the word lines not being selected can be chosen arbitrarily.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a blocking voltage is applied to the psn-junctions to deplete a mobile charge carrier concentration in the word lines, insofar as the long Debye-length is desired, and a forward voltage is applied to enrich the mobile charge carrier concentration in the word lines, insofar as the short Debye-length is desired, each time applying an antisymmetrical voltage to the p-regions and n-regions.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11 for an actuation of the matrix arrangement, wherein a current flow through the word line being selected produces a slight temperature rise and a metal-insulator junction triggers a change in the mobile charge carrier concentration in the word line being selected.

16. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the word lines consist of a semiconductor and are provided with p-doped and n-doped regions, wherein a level of doping is chosen such that Fermi levels of the p-doped and n-doped regions have a same distance from a Fermi level of the word lines and a band model of a resulting psn-junction possesses symmetry.

17. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the word lines consist of a semiconductor and are provided with different metal regions forming a Schottky contacts, wherein a work function of the metal regions is chosen such that distances of Fermi levels between the metal regions and the semiconductor are identical and a band model is symmetrical.

18. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active medium is an electrically polarizable dielectric storage material for storage of data.

19. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active medium is a liquid-based or electrophoretic display means.

20. The capacitive matrix arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capacitive matrix arrangement involves a modeling of an activation function of an artificial neuron with a sigmoidal transmission behavior of the word lines or with a nonlinearity of a generated electric field.