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:
Jun. 11, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 29, 2000
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, DE;
Abstract
A sense amplifier for use with a dynamic random access memory is formed in a silicon integrated circuit. The pitch of an array of such sense amplifiers is equal to the pitch of pairs of bit lines of a memory array. Each array of sense amplifiers is formed from four rows of transistors of a given n or p-channel type Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a U-shaped gate electrode. The gate electrode of the transistors in each row of transistors of the sense amplifier is offset from those in a previous row by a preselected amount. The bit lines passing through the sense amplifier are straight, with no offsets to affect photolithographic performance, and no protuberances to increase the capacitance of the bit lines. Such an array of sense amplifiers has a size equivalent to the minimum size of the pairs of bit lines, and thus does not cause any increase in the width of the array of memory cells.