Thyristor-based device having dual control ports
First Claim
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having adjacent thyristor body regions in a substrate, the thyristor body regions being oppositely doped and having a junction therebetween, the method comprising:
- etching a trench in a substrate;
lining the trench with an insulative material;
forming conductive material in the trench, separated from a first one of the thyristor body regions by the insulative material and extending above the junction;
etching a portion of the semiconductor device including the conductive material in the trench; and
detecting a characteristic of the material being etched and controlling the etching as a function of the detected characteristic;
wherein detecting a characteristic of the material being etched includes detecting that the conductive material has been etched to a depth that is aligned with the junction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Switching operations, such as those used in memory devices, are enhanced using a thyristor-based semiconductor device adapted to switch between a blocking state and a conducting state. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a thyristor-based semiconductor device includes a thyristor having first and second base regions coupled between first and second emitter regions, respectively. A first control port capacitively couples a first signal to the first base region, and a second control port capacitively couples a second signal to the second base region. Each of the first and second signals have a charge that is opposite in polarity, and the opposite polarity signals effect the switching of the thyristor at a lower power, relative to the power that would be required to switch the thyristor having only one control port. In this manner, power consumption for a switching operation can be reduced, which is useful, for example, to correspond with reduced power supplied to other devices in a semiconductor device employing the thyristor.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having adjacent thyristor body regions in a substrate, the thyristor body regions being oppositely doped and having a junction therebetween, the method comprising:
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etching a trench in a substrate; lining the trench with an insulative material; forming conductive material in the trench, separated from a first one of the thyristor body regions by the insulative material and extending above the junction; etching a portion of the semiconductor device including the conductive material in the trench; and detecting a characteristic of the material being etched and controlling the etching as a function of the detected characteristic; wherein detecting a characteristic of the material being etched includes detecting that the conductive material has been etched to a depth that is aligned with the junction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a substrate and a thyristor, the method comprising:
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implanting a first region of the substrate; forming a first control port over the first region and configured and arranged to capacitively couple a first signal to at least the first region; masking a portion of the substrate at least under the first control port and implanting a second region of the substrate laterally adjacent to the first region; forming a second control port over the substrate including the second region, the second control port being configured and arranged to capacitively couple a second signal to at least the second region of the substrate, wherein the thyristor is adapted to switch between a blocking state and a conducting state in response to the first and second signals; and masking a portion of the substrate at least including a portion of the first and second regions and implanting a third region of the substrate laterally adjacent to the second region and separated from the first region by the second region. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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Specification