Memory device with divided bit-line architecture

Details Memory device with divided bit-line architecture Memory device with divided bit-line architecture

2000-05-16

2002-11-12

Flynn, Nathan J. (Department: 2826)

Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode

Field effect device

Having insulated electrode

C257S296000, C257S260000, C438S250000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06479851

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to memory devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to memory devices with divided bit-line, shared sense amplifier architecture.
FIG. 1
is a simplified block diagram of a conventional dynamic random access memory or DRAM showing an illustrative structure of a memory cell array
10
. The memory cell array
10
is made up of many unit memory cells, each of which is usually individually addressable and used to store a bit. The unit memory cell has a capacitor which holds the data in the form of electrical charges, and an access transistor which serves as a switch for selecting the capacitor. Unit memory cells are located at the intersection of word lines WLx (or rows) and bit lines BLx (or columns). The access transistor's gate is connected to the word line WLx. The source of the access transistors are connected to the bit lines BLx. Each pair of complementary bit lines is connected to a sense amplifier
12
.
Memory access begins when a word line is selected (via the decoding of a row address) thereby switching on all the access transistors connected to that word line. In other words, all the unit memory cells in that particular row are turned on. As a result, charge in the capacitor within each unit memory cell is transferred onto its corresponding bit line causing a charge imbalance which leads to a potential difference between the pair of complementary bit lines. This potential difference is detected and amplified by a sense amplifier
12
. This amplified potential difference is then transferred to the I/O gate activated based on the column address, which in turn transfers the amplified signal to the data output buffer.
Furthermore, the precharge/equilibration circuit
14
plays a significant role in detecting memory data during the course of a memory access operation. In advance of a memory access and the activation of a word line, the equilibration circuit
14
charges all bit line pairs up to a certain potential which usually equals to half of the supply potential, that is, Vdd/2. As shown in, for example,
FIG. 1
, the bit line pairs are short-circuited by a transistor so that they are each at an equal potential. The precharging and potential equalization by the equilibration circuit
14
is important due to the disparate difference in capacitance between the bit lines and the storage capacitor. Since the capacitance of the storage capacitor is far less than that of the bit lines, when the storage capacitor is connected to the bit lines via the access transistor, the potential of the bit line changes only slightly, typically by 100 mV. If the storage capacitor was empty, then the potential of the bit line slightly decreases; if charged, then the potential increases. The activated sense amplifier amplifies the potential difference on the two bit lines of the pair. In the first case, it draws the potential of the bit line connected to the storage capacitor down to ground and raises the potential of the other bit line up to Vdd. In the second case, the bit line connected to the storage capacitor is raised to Vdd and the other bit line decreased to ground.
Each bit line BLx can be viewed as a column. The width between a pair of complementary bit lines, e.g., BLx and its complement {overscore (BL)}x, is commonly known as the bit-line pitch or two-column pitch. As can be seen from
FIG. 1
, the physical width of each sense amplifier
12
is roughly the same as the two-column pitch, i.e., the width between the pair of complementary bit lines. With the rapid development of semiconductor fabrication techniques, the unit memory cell and thus the two-column pitch is increasingly becoming smaller and smaller. Consequently, with the smaller dimensions, the density of bit lines within the same unit area is also increased. This increase in bit-line density, however, cannot be fully exploited if the size and physical shape of the sense amplifiers
12
remains the same. As
FIG. 1
shows, since the sense amplifiers
12
are lined up in a row, the size of the sense amplifiers
12
has to correspondingly decrease to realize the full benefit of the narrower two-column pitch. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for reducing the size of sense amplifiers so as to take advantage of the narrower two-column pitch of complementary pairs of bit lines.
FIG. 2
shows half of a sense amplifier circuit commonly used in memory circuits to detect potential difference between bit line pairs. The source of the transistors N
20
, N
30
are connected together at a predetermined bit line potential. The gate of one transistor is connected to the drain of the other transistor.
In accordance with conventional methods, as the two-column pitch between the bit line pairs becomes smaller, the sense amplifiers have to be correspondingly laid out in a long and narrow manner to match the narrower column pitch.
FIG. 3
shows a conventional fabrication layout for the sense amplifier circuit shown in
FIG. 2
laid out in the longer and narrower shape to fit the smaller two-column pitch. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the source, drain, and gate areas of the two cross-coupled transistors N
20
, N
30
are laid out in parallel to the bit lines. Note that in this example, first layer poly (poly
1
) is used for transistor gate terminals and second layer poly (poly
2
) is used for bit lines. When laid out in this manner, however, the sense amplifier makes very inefficient use of the surface area. A more compact layout, as described below, is much preferred in order to maximize the use of the surface area.
FIG. 4
shows an alternate fabrication layout for the sense amplifier circuit shown in
FIG. 2
wherein the transistors are laid out at right angle to the bit lines. The right-angle configuration of
FIG. 4
clearly requires less surface area than that shown in FIG.
3
. For example, unlike the layout configuration of
FIG. 3
, this layout configuration allows the common source regions of the two transistors to be shared in one active area
16
, thereby saving the area that would otherwise have been needed for an additional, physically separate source region. Further, under the right-angle configuration, the contacts
18
for the connections between the gate and the bit lines and between the drain and the bit lines can fit within the active areas, therefore, obviating the need to have additional space to accommodate the contacts. While the right-angle layout generally conserves total surface area, such layout, however, requires a wider two-column pitch as shown. It, therefore, cannot be used unless the two-column pitch requirements are relaxed.
With the use of three-layer metal in semiconductor fabrication processes, a divided bit-line, shared sense amplifier configuration is made possible.
FIG. 5
shows a conventional DRAM memory circuit with a divided bit-line, shared sense amplifier architecture. The sense amplifiers are arranged in banks
20
,
30
and each sense amplifier, for example, sense amplifier
30
a
, is shared between adjacent memory arrays
40
,
50
and is connected to a pair of complementary bit lines
22
,
24
from each memory array
40
or
50
. A block select circuit is located on each side of a shared sense amplifier
30
a
. The block select circuit, which includes transistors N
1
, N
2
, N
3
and N
4
, is controlled by block selection signals
26
,
28
and is used to control the connection between the sense amplifier
30
a
and the pair of complementary bit lines
22
,
24
from an adjacent memory array
40
or
50
. The use of the block select circuits on both sides of a bank
30
of sense amplifiers allows the sense amplifiers to be shared between adjacent memory arrays
40
,
50
and also ensures that only one of the two adjacent memory arrays
40
,
50
can use the bank
30
of sense amplifiers on an exclusive basis at all times.
As illustrated in
FIG. 5
, for example, an adjacent memory array
40
is further made up of two memory sub-arrays
40
a
,
40
b
. To reduce capacitive loading

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