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:
Sep. 07, 2004
Filed:
Aug. 09, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Macronix International Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 1/100 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 1/100 ;
Abstract
A semiconductor memory device is provided, including one or more bit lines, one or more word lines, and a dummy word line, which is coupled to a positive bias. A memory cell and dummy cell are coupled to a bit line and may be coupled to a word line and dummy word line respectively. Coupling the dummy word line to a positive bias at least during an erase operation prevents the dummy cells from being over-erased, which occurs when the dummy word line is coupled to ground.