Integrated circuit embedded with non-volatile programmable memory having variable coupling and separate read/write paths
First Claim
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1. A programmable non-volatile device situated on a substrate, the programmable device comprising:
- a floating gate overlying an n-type diffusion region;
a source region coupled to a first terminal; and
a drain region coupled to a plurality of second terminals; and
wherein the drain region overlaps a sufficient portion of said gate such that a programming voltage for the device applied to said drain region can be imparted to said floating gate through areal capacitive coupling applied to said first terminal and at least a first one or more of said plurality of second terminals;
an n-channel coupling said source region and said drain region;
wherein the device is adapted so that data stored therein can be read by a read signal applied to different ones of said plurality of second terminals than is/are used for said programming voltage, such that different source/drain regions are used for read and write operations.
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Abstract
A multi-programmable non-volatile device is operated with a floating gate that functions as a FET gate that overlaps a portion of a source/drain region and allows for variable coupling through geometry and/or biasing conditions. 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. Different source/drain regions can be used for program and read operations. The invention can be used in environments such as data encryption, reference trimming, manufacturing ID, security ID, and many other applications.
56 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A programmable non-volatile device situated on a substrate, the programmable device comprising:
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a floating gate overlying an n-type diffusion region; a source region coupled to a first terminal; and a drain region coupled to a plurality of second terminals; and wherein the drain region overlaps a sufficient portion of said gate such that a programming voltage for the device applied to said drain region can be imparted to said floating gate through areal capacitive coupling applied to said first terminal and at least a first one or more of said plurality of second terminals; an n-channel coupling said source region and said drain region; wherein the device is adapted so that data stored therein can be read by a read signal applied to different ones of said plurality of second terminals than is/are used for said programming voltage, such that different source/drain regions are used for read and write operations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A multi-level programmable device situated on a substrate, the programmable device comprising:
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a floating gate;
said floating gate being comprised of a material that includes impurities acting as charge storage sites and is used as an insulating layer for other non-programmable devices situated on the substrate;a source region; and a drain region comprised of a first drain region and a second drain region; and wherein the drain region overlaps a sufficient portion of said gate such that a programming voltage for the device applied to either or both of said first drain region and second drain region can be imparted to said floating gate through capacitive coupling, such that multiple bits of data can be written by said programming voltage; further wherein the device is adapted so that data stored therein can be read by a read signal applied differently to the device than said programming voltage, such that different source/drain regions are used for read and write operations. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a multi-level one-time programmable (MOTP) cell situated on a substrate comprising:
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providing a floating gate overlying an n-type diffusion region; wherein said floating gate is comprised of a material that is shared by at least one of an interconnect or another gate for a transistor device situated on the substrate and associated with at least one of a logic gate or a volatile memory; providing a source region; and providing a drain region overlapping a variable portion of said floating gate and capacitively coupled thereto; wherein an amount of capacitive coupling can be adjusted based on at least one of altering a first number of N (N>
1) separate drain regions selected to overlap said floating gate or by altering a programming voltage level;setting a threshold of said floating gate based on a current of channel hot electrons; wherein said threshold can be set to more than two (2) separate distinguishable states to effectuate a multi-level storage cell; providing a read signal applied to a different number of said separate drain regions to read said separate distinguishable states; wherein the device is adapted so that different source/drain regions are used for read and write operations. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification