Stmicroelectronics S.r.l.

Anna Rita Maria Lipani

Antonino Conte

Carmelo Paolino

Loredana Chiaramonte

A sense structure includes: a sense amplifier core configured to compare a measurement current with a reference current; a cascode transistor coupled to the sense amplifier core and configured to be coupled to a load; a switch coupled between a bias voltage node and a control terminal of the cascode transistor; a local capacitor having a first terminal coupled to the control terminal of the cascode transistor; a first transistor coupled between a second terminal of the local capacitor and a reference terminal; and a control circuit coupled to a control terminal of the first transistor, the control circuit configured to disconnect the local capacitor from the reference terminal to produce a voltage overshoot in the control terminal of the cascode transistor, and after disconnecting the local capacitor from the reference terminal, limit or reduce the voltage overshoot by adjusting a voltage of the control terminal of the first transistor.

Floating boosted pre-charge scheme for sense amplifiers

A sense-amplifier circuit can be used with a non-volatile memory device having a memory array with memory cells arranged in word lines and bit lines and coupled to respective source lines. The circuit has a first circuit branch and a second circuit branch, which receive on a respective first comparison input and second comparison input, during a reading step of a datum stored in a memory cell, a cell current from the bit line associated to the memory cell and a reference current, from a reference bit line in a differential reading operation or from a current-reference generator in a single-ended reading operation. The first and second circuit branches generate, during the datum-reading step, a first output voltage and a second output voltage, as a function of the difference between the cell current and the reference current.

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Termini Imerese, Italy

Anna Rita Maria Lipani