Broadcom Corporation

Jay Shiau

Akira Ito

Liming Tsau

Henry Chen

Vincent Chen

Surya Battacharya

A one-time programming memory element, capable of being manufactured in a 0.13 &#x3bc;m or below CMOS technology, having a capacitor, or transistor configured as a capacitor, with an oxide layer capable of passing direct gate tunneling current. Also included is a write switch, having first and second switches coupled to the capacitor, and a read switch also coupled to the capacitor. The capacitor/transistor is one-time programmable as an anti-fuse by application of a program voltage across the oxide layer via the write switch to cause direct gate tunneling current to rupture the oxide layer to form a conductive path having resistance of approximately hundreds of ohms or less.

System and method for one-time programmed memory through direct-tunneling oxide breakdown

A one-time programming memory element, capable of being manufactured in a 0.13 &#x3bc;m or below CMOS technology, having a capacitor, or transistor configured as a capacitor, with an oxide layer capable of passing direct gate tunneling current. Also included is a write circuit, having first and second switches coupled to the capacitor, and a read circuit also coupled to the capacitor. The capacitor/transistor is one-time programmable as an anti-fuse by application of a program voltage across the oxide layer via the write circuit to cause direct gate tunneling current to rupture the oxide layer to form a conductive path having resistance of approximately hundreds of ohms or less.

A one-time programming memory element, capable of being manufactured in a 0.13 &#x3bc;m or below CMOS technology, having a capacitor, or transistor configured as a capacitor, with an oxide layer capable of passing direct gate tunneling current, and a switch having a voltage tolerance higher than that of the capacitor/transistor, wherein the capacitor/transistor is one-time programmable as an anti-fuse by application of a voltage across the oxide layer via the switch to cause direct gate tunneling current to thereby rupture the oxide layer to form a conductive path having resistance of approximately hundreds of ohms or less.

Growing community of inventors

Irvine, CA, United States of America

Jay Shiau