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. 25, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 21, 2000
Saroj Pathak, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
James E. Payne, Boulder Creek, CA (US);
Jagdish Pathak, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
Atmel Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A reference cell for use in a high speed sensing circuit includes a first sub-circuit and a second sub-circuit. The first sub-circuit has a structure similar to memory cells within odd number rows of a main memory array. The second sub-circuit has a structure similar to memory cells within even numbered rows of the main memory array. If a target cell within the main memory array lies within an odd numbered row, then the first sub-circuit is selected, and if the target cell lies within an even numbered row, then second sub-circuit is selected. Both of the first and second sub-circuits include a reference transistors having its control gate broken into two parts. A first part is a poly layer and is separated from the channel region by a tunneling oxide. A second part is a metal or poly layer over the first part and separated from the first part by a gate oxide. A via is used to connect the first part to the second part.