International Business Machines Corporation

William J Mruk

John Stanley Bialas, Jr

Richard J Daniels

A substrate voltage generator is disclosed which provides over 1.5 times as much current for a given size circuit, as has been capable with prior art substrate voltage generators. This is achieved by means of a high capacitance per unit area charge pumping capacitor having a triple plate structure and further through the space saving technique of providing a dual use for the source diffusion of the current sinking device in the circuit so as to also serve as the guard ring around the charge pumping circuit of the substrate voltage generator. These and other features of the substrate voltage generator circuit enable relatively large quantities of current to be supplied for maintaining the substrate voltage in large dimension VLSI chips having significant diffusion leakage currents.

Charge pumping circuit

A precision regulation substrate voltage generator circuit is disclosed which employs frequency modulation to modify the oscillator frequency driving the substrate charge pump, in order to more precisely control the resultant substrate voltage in an integrated circuit.

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Chantilly, VA, United States of America

William J Mruk