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:
Dec. 15, 2009
Filed:
Aug. 01, 2006
Yang Xu, La Jolla, CA (US);
Lawrence Pileggi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Mehdi Asheghi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Yang Xu, La Jolla, CA (US);
Lawrence Pileggi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Mehdi Asheghi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
Configurable circuits using phase change switches are described. The switches use phase change or phase transition material to create configurable connections between devices and/or interconnecting layers of an integrated circuit in order to change the behavior of the circuit after manufacturing. In at least some embodiments, the phase of the material can be a crystalline phase or an amorphous phase. A phase change can be caused by heating the material, such as with an ohmic heater fabricated on the IC. As one example, germanium-antimony-tellurium (GeSbTe) can be used for the phase change material. The switches can be used to create configurable circuits such as low noise amplifiers and mixers, which can in turn be used to create configurable receivers or other analog circuits.