Non-volatile ferroelectric memory device with leakage preventing function
First Claim
1. A non-volatile ferroelectric memory device comprising:
- a plurality of memory cells provided in a matrix manner, each of which comprises a transistor having a gate and source and drain regions formed in a semiconductor region, and a ferroelectric capacitor having first and second electrodes and a ferroelectric layer interposed between said first and second electrodes, said second electrode being connected to one of said source and drain regions of said transistor;
a plurality of pairs of bit lines, each of said bit lines of each of said pairs being connected to the other of said source and drain regions of said transistor of each memory cell in a column of said plurality of memory cells;
a plurality of word lines each of which is connected to said gate of said transistor of each memory cell in a row of said plurality of memory cells;
plate potential means for generating a first predetermined potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage and supplying said first potential to said first electrode of each of said plurality of capacitors;
well potential means for generating a second predetermined potential lower than said first potential with respect to the reference potential and supplying said second potential to the semiconductor region of each of said plurality of transistors; and
sense amplifier means for sensing a data using potentials on the bit lines of each of said plurality of pairs of bit lines.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-volatile ferroelectric memory device includes a plurality of memory cells provided in a matrix manner, each of which comprises a transistor having a gate and source and drain regions formed in a semiconductor region, and a ferroelectric capacitor having first and second electrodes and a ferroelectric layer interposed between the first and second electrodes. The second electrode is connected to one of the source and drain regions of the transistor. The memory device further includes a plurality of pairs of bit lines, each of the bit lines of each of the pairs being connected to the other of the source and drain regions of the transistor of each memory cell in a column of the plurality of memory cells, a plurality of word lines each of which is connected to the gate of the transistor of each memory cell in a row of the plurality of memory cells, a plate potential section for generating a first predetermined potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage and supplying the first potential to the first electrode of each of the plurality of memory cells, a well potential section for generating a second predetermined potential lower than the first potential with respect to the reference potential and supplying the second potential to the semiconductor region of each of the plurality of transistors, and a sense amplifier section for sensing a data using potentials on the bit lines of each of the plurality of pairs of bit lines. The well potential section functions as a preventing section for preventing a leakage current from flowing from the ferroelectric layer.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A non-volatile ferroelectric memory device comprising:
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a plurality of memory cells provided in a matrix manner, each of which comprises a transistor having a gate and source and drain regions formed in a semiconductor region, and a ferroelectric capacitor having first and second electrodes and a ferroelectric layer interposed between said first and second electrodes, said second electrode being connected to one of said source and drain regions of said transistor; a plurality of pairs of bit lines, each of said bit lines of each of said pairs being connected to the other of said source and drain regions of said transistor of each memory cell in a column of said plurality of memory cells; a plurality of word lines each of which is connected to said gate of said transistor of each memory cell in a row of said plurality of memory cells; plate potential means for generating a first predetermined potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage and supplying said first potential to said first electrode of each of said plurality of capacitors; well potential means for generating a second predetermined potential lower than said first potential with respect to the reference potential and supplying said second potential to the semiconductor region of each of said plurality of transistors; and sense amplifier means for sensing a data using potentials on the bit lines of each of said plurality of pairs of bit lines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a non-volatile ferroelectric memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells provided in a matrix manner, each of which comprises a transistor having a gate and source and drain regions formed in a semiconductor region, and a ferroelectric capacitor having first and second electrodes and a ferroelectric layer interposed between said first and second electrodes, said second electrode being connected to one of said source and drain regions of said transistor, a method of operating the memory device with less leakage current from a memory cell, comprising the steps of:
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generating a first predetermined fixed potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage to supply said first potential to the second electrode of the memory cell; generating a second predetermined fixed potential lower than said first potential with respect to the reference potential to supply said second potential to the semiconductor region of the transistors; and sensing a data of the memory cell using potentials on a bit line connected to the memory cell when the memory cell is selected. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A non-volatile ferroelectric memory device comprising:
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a plurality of memory cells provided in a matrix manner, each of which comprises a transistor having a gate and source and drain regions formed in a semiconductor region, and a ferroelectric capacitor having first and second electrodes and a ferroelectric layer interposed between said first and second electrodes, said second electrode being connected to one of said source and drain regions of said transistor; a plurality of pairs of bit lines, each of said bit lines of each of said pairs being connected to the other of said source and drain regions of said transistor of each memory cell in a column of said plurality of memory cells; a plurality of word lines each of which is connected to said gate of said transistor of each memory cell in a row of said plurality of memory cells; plate potential means for generating a predetermined plate potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage and supplying said plate potential to said first electrode of each of said plurality of memory cells; sense amplifier means for sensing a data using potentials on the bit lines of each of said plurality of pairs of bit lines; and preventing means for preventing a leakage current from flowing from said ferroelectric layer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A semiconductor memory device comprising:
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a plurality of memory cells each having a transistor and storage capacitor coupled together; a plate potential circuit for generating a first predetermined potential to an electrode of a plurality of said storage capacitors; and a well potential circuit for generating a second predetermined potential lower than said first predetermined potential to a well region of said transistors. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. In a semiconductor memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells each having a transistor coupled to a storage capacitor which has electrodes and a dielectric layer interposed between said electrodes, a method of operating the memory device with less leakage current from a memory cell, comprising the steps of:
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generating a first predetermined potential intermediate between a reference potential and a high DC voltage to supply said first predetermined potential to one of said electrodes of the storage capacitors; and generating a second predetermined potential lower than said first predetermined potential with respect to the reference potential to supply said second predetermined potential to a semiconductor region of said transistors. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification