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:
Nov. 12, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1995
Dipankar Pramanik, Saratoga, CA (US);
Subhash R Nariani, San Jose, CA (US);
VLSI Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An anti-fuse structure formed in accordance with the present invention includes a conductive layer base. A layer of anti-fuse material overlies the conductive base layer. On top of the anti-fuse layer is an insulating layer, in which a via hole is formed to the anti-fuse layer. The lateral dimension of the via hole is less than about 0.8 microns. Provided in the via hole is a conductive non-Al plug which overlies a layer of a a conductive barrier material such as TiN or TiW that contacts the anti-fuse material and overlies the insulating layer. Tungsten is effectively used as the non-Al plug. An electrically conductive layer is formed over the plug and is separated from the conductive barrier material overlying the anti-fuse layer by the plug. The structure is then programmable by application of a programming voltage and readable by application of a sensing voltage, which is lower than the programming voltage.