98 results about "Low voltage cmos" patented technology

A semiconductor structure and a method for forming the same. The method includes providing a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate. The method further includes simultaneously forming a first doped transistor region of a first transistor and a first doped guard-ring region of a guard ring on the semiconductor substrate. The first doped transistor region and the first doped guard-ring region comprise dopants of a first doping polarity. The method further includes simultaneously forming a second doped transistor region of the first transistor and a second doped guard-ring region of the guard ring on the semiconductor substrate. The second doped transistor region and the second doped guard-ring region comprise dopants of the first doping polarity. The second doped guard-ring region is in direct physical contact with the first doped guard-ring region. The guard ring forms a closed loop around the first and second doped transistor regions.

A low voltage CMOS circuit and method provide output current ability meeting multimode requirements of high voltage off-chip drivers while protecting the CMOS devices from various breakdown mechanisms. The circuit and method utilize intermediate voltages between two power rails and voltage division techniques to limit the voltages to acceptable limits for drain-to-source, gate-to-drain, and gate-to-source of CMOS devices in any chosen technology. The circuit comprises first and second CMOS cascode chains connected between a high voltage power rail, e.g 5 volt and a reference potential power rail, e.g. ground. Each CMOS cascode chain comprises first and second p-type MOS devices in series with first and second n-type MOS devices. An input circuit is coupled to a node at the midpoint of the first CMOS cascode chain. A bias voltage, typically 3.3 volts is connected to the NMOS devices in the first and CMOS cascode chains. A second bias voltage is coupled to the PMOS devices in the first and second CMOS cascode chains. An output is provided from the second CMOS cascode chain to a third CMOS cascode chain for purposes of providing sufficient pullup capability to drive an output circuit comprising a fourth CMOS cascode chain between the high and reference potentials without exceeding the breakdown mechanisms for any MOS device in the CMOS cascode chains.

An integrated circuit (100) includes a first input (108) to receive a first operating voltage Vcc and a second input (110) to receive a second operating voltage Vss. Operating circuitry (102) of the integrated circuit is coupled to the first input to power the operating circuitry. A transistor (104) is coupled between the second input and the operating circuitry to selectively provide the second operating voltage to the operating circuitry of the integrated circuit. The well containing the transistor is biased to provide a reverse body effect and reduce the threshold voltage of the transistor to allow operation at very low Vcc.

Various circuit techniques for implementing ultra high speed circuits use current-controlled CMOS (C³MOS) logic fabricated in conventional CMOS process technology. An entire family of logic elements including inverter/buffers, level shifters, NAND, NOR, XOR gates, latches, flip-flops and the like are implemented using C³MOS techniques. Optimum balance between power consumption and speed for each circuit application is achieve by combining high speed C³MOS logic with low power conventional CMOS logic. The combined C³MOS/CMOS logic allows greater integration of circuits such as high speed transceivers used in fiber optic communication systems. The C³MOS structure enables the use of a power supply voltage that may be larger than the voltage required by the CMOS fabrication process, further enhancing the performance of the circuit.

An avalanche photodiode is deposited and integrated directly on top of CMOS readout circuitry. The anode of the avalanche photodiode may be independently biased at high voltage so that the avalanche photodiode may be operated in an avalanche multiplication mode. The avalanche photodiode has a multi-layered structure which is not pixilated; and photo-carrier generation and carrier multiplication may take place in the same layer or in different layers. A constant-gate-bias transistor isolates the high-voltage avalanche photodiode from the low-voltage the CMOS readout circuitry.

Various circuit techniques for implementing ultra high speed circuits use current-controlled CMOS (C³MOS) logic fabricated in conventional CMOS process technology. An entire family of logic elements including inverter/buffers, level shifters, NAND, NOR, XOR gates, latches, flip-flops and the like are implemented using C³MOS techniques. Optimum balance between power consumption and speed for each circuit application is achieve by combining high speed C³MOS logic with low power conventional CMOS logic. The combined C³MOS/CMOS logic allows greater integration of circuits such as high speed transceivers used in fiber optic communication systems. The C³MOS structure enables the use of a power supply voltage that may be larger than the voltage required by the CMOS fabrication process, further enhancing the performance of the circuit.

An electrical circuit and method of power management of a cellular telephone includes a battery adapted to produce a battery voltage; a LDO regulator operatively connected to the battery and adapted to provide a constant supply voltage from the battery voltage; and a DC-DC converter operatively connected to the LDO regulator, wherein the DC-DC converter is adapted to step down the constant supply voltage to a lower voltage level, wherein the LDO regulator and the DC-DC converter are embedded on a single integrated circuit chip. The constant supply voltage equals 3.6V at an output of the LDO, and the constant supply voltage is applied to an input of the DC-DC converter. Moreover, the battery voltage equals at most 5.5V.

A bi-state-switch low-voltage fabrication technique is able to be used to construct microfluidic systems leveraging well-established low-voltage semiconductor fabrication technologies to achieve high-voltage droplet actuation applications with lower costs, smaller device sizes, and also less time. Also, the electrode cells are able to be made using the well-established low-voltage CMOS fabrication technologies, which can be used to make large-scale integrated microelectronics and microfluidics.

A slew-rate controlled driver circuit in an integrated circuit fabricated in a low voltage CMOS process, having an input node and an output node. A PMOS pull-up transistor is provided, having a source connected to one side of a power supply, having a gate, and having a drain connected to the output node. The PMOS transistor also has a parasitic capacitance between its gate and drain, having a value that may vary from one integrated circuit to the next from process variations and in response to varying circuit conditions. A current source generates a current having a level corresponding to the value of the parasitic capacitance, and to provide that current to the gate of the PMOS transistor. A level shifter receives an input signal having a voltage varying in a first range provides as output signal to the gate of the PMOS transistor shifted to a level suitable for the PMOS transistor. An NMOS pull-down transistor is also provided, connected to the other side of the power supply, with a similar and corresponding current source and level shifter as has the PMOS transistor.

The invention discloses a high-performance high-reliability reference voltage source of a low-voltage complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The high-performance high-reliability reference voltage source comprises a starting circuit, an automatic biasing voltage generating circuit, a main bias current generating circuit and a reference voltage generating circuit, wherein direct current input ends of the starting circuit, the automatic biasing voltage generating circuit, the main bias current generating circuit and the reference voltage generating circuit are connected with a direct current power source VDD, the starting circuit and the automatic biasing voltage generating circuit are connected with the main bias current generating circuit, the automatic biasing voltage generating circuit generates stable bias voltage by means of feedback with the main bias current generating circuit and transmits the stable bias voltage to the main bias current generating circuit, the main bias current generating circuit is connected with the reference voltage generating circuit, and reference voltage Vref with low power consumption and low temperature coefficient is output by the reference voltage generating circuit. According to the high-performance high-reliability reference voltage source of the low-voltage CMOS, the CMOS reference voltage source is easy to implement in the CMOS process, the compatibility is good, and high performance and high reliability can be achieved under low voltage.

A memory includes a plurality of memory cells and a plurality of peripheral circuits. Each memory cell has a first inverter and a second inverter, the first inverter is supplied by a first power supply rail and a second power supply rail, and the second inverter is supplied by a third power supply rail and a fourth power supply rail. A first voltage difference is applied across the first power supply rail and the second power supply rail, a second voltage difference is applied across the third power supply rail and the fourth power supply rail, and the first voltage difference is less than the second voltage difference. The plurality of peripheral circuits use at least one of boosted power supplies corresponding to the second voltage difference and gate-source differentially-driven circuits.

A high voltage CMOS output buffer is constructed from low voltage CMOS transistors. The output buffer employs a series of unique CMOS inverter stages, each of which contains a switched PMOS transistor, one or more voltage drop blocks, and a switched NMOS transistor. The voltage drop blocks are composed of stacked PMOS transistors that are diode-connected—i.e., the PMOS gate terminal is connected to the PMOS drain terminal, and the PMOS body (N-well) terminal is connected to the PMOS source terminal. The diode-connected PMOS transistors reduce the voltage across the transistor gate oxide to a safe value, for all internal PMOS/NMOS transistors inside the CMOS output buffer.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a high-voltage lateral dual-diffusion N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) based on a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (CMOS) process. The method comprises the following steps of: providing a P type silicon substrate, manufacturing local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) on the P type silicon substrate, and dividing theLOCOS into a low-voltage CMOS area and a high-voltage lateral diffused N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (LDNMOS) area; injecting phosphor into the LDNMOS area and diffusing the phosphor to form a high-voltage N well; performing a two-well process in the CMOS area to form a low-voltage N well and a low-voltage P well; sequentially forming a thick gate oxide layer and a thin gate oxide layer in the LDNMOS area; sequentially forming a polysilicon layer and a silicon nitride layer and sequentially etching the polysilicon layer and the silicon nitride layer to form a grid electrode and a buffering layer respectively; coating a photoresist, and exposing the injection position of a P type area of the LDNMOS area after exposing and development; injecting P type ions for two times at the anglesof more than 30 degrees and less than 7 degrees respectively to form channels of an LDNMOS, wherein the photoresist and the buffering layer serve as masks; and forming source areas and drain areas ofa P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) and an NMOS, and contact ends of a source area, a drain area and a P type area of the LDNMOS by taking the grid electrode as an alignment mark. Because a large-angle injection process is used for forming the channels after the grid electrode is formed, a long-time high-temperature heating process is not required and the process is compatible.

A microphone circuit includes a condenser microphone and a charge pump. The condenser microphone is configured to receive sound energy and responsively convert the sound energy into a microphone output voltage. The charge pump is implemented in a low voltage CMOS process. It is coupled to the microphone and is configured to supply a bias voltage to the microphone allowing the microphone to operate. By using a proper circuit topology, whose maximum output voltage is limited by the breakdown voltage between the NWELL and the substrate, and by blocking the formation of the PWELL around the NWELL at a predetermined distance so that the NWELL is surrounded by a very lightly doped substrate from all sides, the maximum output voltage of the charge pump is increased significantly.

The invention discloses a drive bootstrap circuit for a switching tube of a switching power supply converter, belonging to the filed of semiconductor technology, and comprising a bootstrap capacitor, a low-voltage CMOS inverter, three high-voltage CMOS inverters, an MOS tube voltage switching mechanism and a switch breakover mechanism. The device further improves the grid control voltage of a power tube so as to reduce the breakover resistance of a power switching tube from the aspect of circuit structure.

A low voltage CMOS differential amplifier is provided. More specifically, there is provided a device comprising a differential pair coupled to a first tail current transistor and to a component wherein the first tail current transistor is configured to provide a tail current to the differential pair and the component is configured to provide a tail current to the differential pair when the first tail current transistor is operating in a triode region or in a cut-off region.

A low voltage detector and method of detecting low voltage of a nonvolatile memory chip is disclosed wherein a memory cell does not operate in a low voltage and definitly discriminate activation and deactivation voltage area of the chip by synchronizing operation start and stop points of a FeRAM cell to a chip enable signal according to variation of system power for safely operating the chip in threshold voltage region. In this way, because the chip safely operates even the threshold voltage region such as the on/off states of power voltage, the chip can be protected even at the on/off states of power voltage and the layout area of the chip becomes efficient without having additional circuits.