Integrated circuit embedded with non-volatile programmable memory having variable coupling
First Claim
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1. A programmable non-volatile device situated on a substrate comprising:
- a floating gate;
wherein said floating gate is comprised of a material that is also used as a gate for a transistor device also situated on the substrate and associated with a logic gate and/or a volatile memory;
a source region; and
a drain region comprised of a first drain region and at least one separate second drain region; and
wherein the drain region overlaps a sufficient portion of said floating gate such that a programming voltage for the device applied to said drain can be imparted to said floating gate through capacitive coupling;
further wherein the device is adapted so that different ones of said first drain region and said second drain region can be coupled to said gate during program and read operations respectively.
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Abstract
A programmable non-volatile device uses a floating gate that functions as a FET gate that overlaps a variable portion of a source/drain region. This allows a programming voltage for the device to be imparted to the floating gate through variable capacitive coupling, thus changing the state of the device. Multi-state embodiments are also possible. The invention can be used in environments such as data encryption, reference trimming, manufacturing ID, security ID, and many other applications.
34 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A programmable non-volatile device situated on a substrate comprising:
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a floating gate; wherein said floating gate is comprised of a material that is also used as a gate for a transistor device also situated on the substrate and associated with a logic gate and/or a volatile memory; a source region; and a drain region comprised of a first drain region and at least one separate second drain region; and wherein the drain region overlaps a sufficient portion of said floating gate such that a programming voltage for the device applied to said drain can be imparted to said floating gate through capacitive coupling; further wherein the device is adapted so that different ones of said first drain region and said second drain region can be coupled to said gate during program and read operations respectively. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A one-time programmable (OTP) device situated on a substrate comprising:
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a floating gate; wherein said floating gate is comprised of a material that is also shared by an interconnect and/or another gate for a transistor device also situated on the substrate and associated with a logic gate and/or a volatile memory; a source region; and a drain region overlapping a portion of said floating gate, and said drain region including at least a first drain region and a second selectable drain region; wherein a variable capacitive coupling between said drain region and said floating gate can be effectuated by one or more selection signals applied to said first drain region and said second drain region respectively; wherein said variable capacitive coupling causes a variable amount of channel hot electrons from said first drain region and from said second drain region to permanently alter a threshold value of said floating gate and store data in the OTP device.
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Specification