At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

James H Stefany

Howard C Kirsch

James T Nelson

Glen T Cheney

Clinton H Holder, Jr

A self-aligned one transistor-capacitor memory cell is provided which uses an n-channel MOS transistor having separate drain and source regions with a first level polysilicon conductor coupled to the top plate of the capacitor and separate second level polysilicon conductors coupled to the gate and drain of the transistor. A reduction in a dimension of the memory cell is acheived compared to a similar memory cell which uses only one level of conductors.

Dual level polysilicon single transistor-capacitor memory array

A dynamic random access memory has a row conductor boosted in excess of the power supply level during an initial portion of a memory cycle. The voltage is then clamped at the supply level during the middle portion of the cycle, and optionally boosted again during the refresh portion. This allows improved performance and reliability, especially in memories employing bit lines precharged to one-half the power supply level.

Semiconductor memory with boosted word line

An integrated circuit comprises a node that is boosted by one or more boost capacitors depending on the level of the power supply voltage. When the level is below a given threshold, a first booster capacitor is activated. Additional boost capacitors may be provided for activation at still lower thresholds. The boost capacitors are deactivated when the power supply level exceeds the corresponding thresholds. In this manner, a more constant boosted voltage is obtained. This provides for an adequate boosted voltage at low power supply levels, while avoiding excessive boost at high power supply voltages that could damage devices. The technique may be used for boosted row conductors in dynamic random access memories, among other applications.

Growing community of inventors

Asbury, NJ, United States of America

James H Stefany