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. 24, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 30, 2000
Richard J. Ferrant, Saint Ismier, FR;
Tsiu C. Chan, Carrollton, TX (US);
STMicroelectronics, Inc., Carrollton, TX (US);
Abstract
A random access memory cell and fabrication method therefor are disclosed. The random access memory cell includes a first and a second pull-down transistor cross-coupled such that a control terminal of the first pull-down transistor is connected to a conduction terminal of the second pull-down transistors, and the control terminal of the second pull-down transistor is connected to the conduction terminal of the first pull-down transistor. A first pass gate transistor is coupled between the conduction terminal of the first transistor and a first bit line of a bit line pair, and a second pass gate transistor is coupled between the conduction terminal of the second transistor and a second bit line of the bit line pair. The threshold voltage of the first and second pass gate transistors is such that a subthreshold current is provided to the first and second pull-down transistors when the memory cell is not being accessed such that the conduction terminal of the pull-down transistor that is turned off is maintained at a voltage level corresponding to a logic high voltage. In this way, the memory cell is capable of performing a latching function without pull-up transistors.