The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 08, 1994
Filed:
Sep. 25, 1992
David B Spratt, Plano, TX (US);
Kueing-Long Chen, Plano, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A device (10) for controlling current through a circuit has an antifuse material (18) separating a first conductor (12) and a second conductor (20). An insulating element (14) and another insulating element (16) further separate the first conductor (12) from the second conductor (20). The antifuse material (18) includes a dopant which raises the band gap and seals off paths in grain boundaries of the antifuse material (18) in order to limit leakage current from flowing between the first conductor (12) and the second conductor (20). When an interconnection is desired, a high voltage pulse is applied across the first conductor (12) and the second conductor (20) to initially break down the antifuse material (18). The breakdown of the antifuse material (18) causes a filament (22) to form between the first conductor (12) and the second conductor (20). The filament (22) creates a conduction path connecting the first conductor (12) and the second conductor (20) electrically together. Additional current is forced through the antifuse material (18) to permanently set the filament (22) in order to interconnect circuit elements coupled to the first conductor (12) and the second conductor (20).