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US4158239A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Resistive gate FET flip-flop storage cell

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1977-12-20
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Granted: 1979-06-12
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Expires: 1997-12-20
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Abstract

Abstract An improved bistable FET circuit is disclosed which employs a reduced number of device elements and occupies less space in an integrated circuit. The flip-flop circuit includes the FET device having its source connected to a first potential and a second FET device having its source also connected to the first potential. The first FET device has a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with the first side connected to the drain of the second FET device and the second side connected to a second potential. The second FET device has a gate electrode comprised of a resistive material with the first side connected to the drain of the first FET device and a second side connected to the second potential. In this manner, the resistive gate of the first device serves as the load for the second device and the resistive gate of the second device serves as the load for the first device. Application of this circuit to electrically programmable PLA's and to random access memories is disclosed.

Inventors

  • 👤 Claude L. Bertin

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 08:31
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10B; H10B10/00; G; G11; G11C; G11C7/00; G11C7/20; H03; H03K; H03K3/00; H03K3/02; H03K3/353; H03K3/356; H03K3/356017; H03K3/356052; H03K3/35606; H10D; H10D64/00; H10D64/60; H10D64/605; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S257/00; Y10S257/903; Y10S257/904

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim 105 words
A flip-flop circuit, comprising: a first FET device having its source connected to a first potential; a second FET device having its source connected to said first potential; said first FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said second FET device and a second side connected to a second potential; said second FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said first FET device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby a compact flip-flop circuit is formed.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 105 words
A flip-flop circuit, comprising: a first FET device having its source connected to a first potential; a second FET device having its source connected to said first potential; said first FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said second FET device and a second side connected to a second potential; said second FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said first FET device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby a compact flip-flop circuit is formed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 23 words
The circuit of claim 1, wherein said resistive material for said gate electrodes of said first and second FET devices is polycrystalline silicon.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 48 words
The flip-flop circuit of claim 1, wherein said gate of said first FET device has a different resistance between said first and second sides than that for said second FET device; whereby the flip-flop will assume a predetermined state when said first and second potentials are turned on.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 23 words
The circuit of claim 3, wherein said resistive material for said gate electrodes of said first and second FET devices is polycrystalline silicon.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 27 words
The circuit of claim 4, wherein said different resistance between said first and second gates is due to a difference in concentration of conductivity enhancing dopants therein.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 21 words
The circuit of claim 4, wherein said different resistances are due to a difference in the mechanical dimensions of said gates.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 241 words
A programmable PLA circuit connected between a bit partitioning input line, a product term line, a ground line and a programming line, comprising: a first and second FET device connected in series between said product term line and said ground line, with the gate of said first FET device connected to said bit partitioning input line, forming a read only memory element; a third FET device having its source connected to said product term line and its gate connected to said programming line; a fourth FET device having its source connected to a first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said third FET device; a fifth FET device having its source connected to said first potential and its drain connected to the gate of said second FET device; said fourth FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said fifth FET device and a second side connected to a second potential; said fifth FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said fourth FET device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby the conduction state of said second FET device is controlled by the flip-flop circuit formed by said fourth and fifth FET devices, whose state is set through said third FET device, thereby blocking conduction through said first FET device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 241 words
A programmable PLA circuit connected between a bit partitioning input line, a product term line, a ground line and a programming line, comprising: a first and second FET device connected in series between said product term line and said ground line, with the gate of said first FET device connected to said bit partitioning input line, forming a read only memory element; a third FET device having its source connected to said product term line and its gate connected to said programming line; a fourth FET device having its source connected to a first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said third FET device; a fifth FET device having its source connected to said first potential and its drain connected to the gate of said second FET device; said fourth FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said fifth FET device and a second side connected to a second potential; said fifth FET device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said fourth FET device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby the conduction state of said second FET device is controlled by the flip-flop circuit formed by said fourth and fifth FET devices, whose state is set through said third FET device, thereby blocking conduction through said first FET device.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 22 words
The circuit of claim 7, wherein said resistive material for said gate electrodes of said fourth and fifth devices is polycrystalline silicon.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 197 words
A random access memory element connected between a first and second bit/sense lines and a word line, comprising: a first FET isolation device having its source connected to said first bit/sense line and its gate connected to said word line; a second FET isolation device having its source connected to said second bit/sense line and its gate connected to said word line; a first FET storage device having its source connected to a first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said first FET isolation device; a second FET storage device having its source connected to said first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said second FET isolation device; said first FET storage device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said second FET storage device and a second side connected to a second potential; said second FET storage device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said first FET storage device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby a compact random access memory array is formed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 197 words
A random access memory element connected between a first and second bit/sense lines and a word line, comprising: a first FET isolation device having its source connected to said first bit/sense line and its gate connected to said word line; a second FET isolation device having its source connected to said second bit/sense line and its gate connected to said word line; a first FET storage device having its source connected to a first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said first FET isolation device; a second FET storage device having its source connected to said first potential and its drain connected to the drain of said second FET isolation device; said first FET storage device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said second FET storage device and a second side connected to a second potential; said second FET storage device having a gate electrode composed of a resistive material with a first side connected to the drain of said first FET storage device and a second side connected to said second potential; whereby a compact random access memory array is formed.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 25 words
The memory element of claim 9, wherein said resistive material for said gate electrodes of said first and second FET storage devices is polycrystalline silicon.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4092735A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1982-06-11 1982-12-11 1983-06-12 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1986-06-11 1986-12-11 1987-06-12 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1990-06-11 1990-12-11 1991-06-12 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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