Sense amplifier and sensing method

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are related to sense amplifiers. In an embodiment involving a sense amplifier used with a memory cell, signals BL, ZBL, SN and SP are pre-charged and equalized to a voltage reference, e.g., Vref, using an equalizing signal. A compensation signal, e.g., SAC, is applied to compensate for the mismatch between transistors in the sense amplifier. The word line WL is activated to connect the memory cell to a bit line, e.g., bit line ZBL. Because the memory cell shares the charge with the connected bit line ZBL, it causes a differential signal to be developed between bit lines BL and ZBL. When enough split between bit lines BL and ZBL is developed, signals SP and SAE are raised to VDD (while signal SN has been lowered to VSS) to turn on the sense amplifier and allow it to function as desire. Other embodiments and exemplary applications are also disclosed.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to sense amplifiers. In various embodiments, sense amplifiers are used to electrically compensate for semiconductor process mismatches, thereby enabling sensing of smaller bit line gap voltages and allowing a greater number of memory cells to be connected to the sense amplifiers. Background technique [0002] Due to the mismatch of the semiconductor process, in order to sense the data reliably, the known sense amplifier needs a large bit line split voltage (bit line split). The bit line gap voltage is the voltage difference between two bit lines (such as bit lines BL and ZBL). To simplify the description, the bit line gap voltage is referred to as the gap voltage for short. In many applications, short bit lines with fewer memory cells are often used to achieve large gap voltages, which limits the number of memory cells connected to the sense amplifier and reduces memory cell density. Contents of the invention [0003] ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In many applications, short bit lines with fewer memory cells are often used to achieve large gap voltages, which limits the number of memory cells connected to the sense amplifier and reduces the density of memory cells

Images