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:
Apr. 15, 2003
Filed:
Jan. 11, 2002
Gunther Lehmann, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Ulrich Frey, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, DE;
Abstract
The present invention provides for evaluating a programmable anti-fuse element. For a programmable transistor anti-fuse, the gate of the anti-fuse is precharged with a predetermined voltage and/or current and the anti-fuse is subsequently evaluated. In one embodiment a precharge voltage sufficient to turn ON a transistor is provided to the gate. Here, an intact (unblown) transistor remains ON over a period of time and a damaged (blown) transistor dissipates the charge voltage and turns OFF. The status of the transistor is subsequently determined by evaluating the resistance between the drain and source. A high resistance indicates a blown condition and a low resistance indicates an unblown condition. In another embodiment, a small current is provided to the gate in which the small current is greater than a leakage current for an intact transistor and is less than a leakage current for a damaged transistor. An intact transistor charges to an ON state over a period of time but a damaged transistor does not because it's leakage current is greater than the small current provided to the gate. Again, the status of the transistor anti-fuse is subsequently determined by evaluating the resistance between the drain and source.