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:
Dec. 28, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 12, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Albert Bergemont, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Min-hwa Chi, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Assignee:
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
257175 ; 257173 ; 257174 ; 257355 ; 257360 ; 361 20 ; 361 90 ; 361 91 ; 361118 ; 361126 ; 361272 ;
Abstract
Disclosed is a floating gate neuron MOS transistor that may be incorporated into devices such as low voltage silicon control rectifiers for protection of internal circuits against electrostatic discharge. The transistor includes two or more input gates capacitively coupled to the floating gate. By adjusting the coupling ratio of the input gates, it is possible to control the transistor drain turn-on voltage very precisely and thereby turn on the rectifier without relying on avalanche breakdown of the transistor.