Granted Patent B2

US 7,515,493 · App. 11/739,167 · Granted Apr 7, 2009

Abstract

Claims (22)

1. A sensing circuit for sensing semiconductor memory cells adapted to determine when a cell current flowing through a selected memory cell exceeds a reference current during an evaluation phase of a sensing operation, the sensing circuit being adapted to be coupled to at least one selected memory cell through a respective bit line and including:

an access circuit node adapted to be coupled to the bit line;

precharging means adapted to be activated in a precharge phase of the sensing operation preceding the evaluation phase, so as to bring a voltage of said access circuit node to a reference voltage;

a reference circuit node coupled to the access circuit node and arranged to receive the reference current;

an evaluation circuit node coupled to the reference circuit node through a first current to voltage converter, adapted to sink a current flowing from the reference circuit node to the evaluation circuit node and to produce a corresponding voltage difference between the reference circuit node and the evaluation circuit node, wherein said current is nearly equal to the reference current substantially at the end of the precharge phase;

comparator means adapted to compare the voltage of the access circuit node with the voltage of the evaluation circuit node and to provide a corresponding comparison signal whose time pattern indicates when the cell current exceeds the reference current,

wherein the first current to voltage converter is an electronic device having essentially the behavior of a diode.

2. The sensing circuit of claim 1 , wherein said first current to voltage converter includes a diode-connected transistor having an anode terminal connected to the reference circuit node and a cathode terminal connected to the evaluation circuit node.

3. The sensing circuit of claim 1 , further including a negative feedback loop that contains the feedback current and adapted to control the voltage of the access circuit node during the evaluation phase, said negative feedback loop comprising the first current to voltage converter and a differential amplifier having an inverting input connected to the access circuit node, a non-inverting input receiving the reference voltage and an output connected to the evaluation circuit node.

4. The sensing circuit of claim 1 , further including a second current to voltage converter connected between the evaluation circuit node and the access circuit node so as to conduct a first charging current flowing from the evaluation circuit node to the access circuit node during the precharge phase and to establish a corresponding voltage difference between the evaluation circuit node and the access circuit node.

5. The sensing circuit of claim 4 , wherein said second current to voltage converter includes a diode-connected transistor having an anode terminal connected to the evaluation node and a cathode terminal connected to the access circuit node.

6. The sensing circuit of claim 1 , further including an auxiliary circuit branch connected to the reference circuit node adapted to provide a second charging current to the reference circuit node during the precharge phase.

7. The sensing circuit of claim 1 , wherein the reference circuit node coincides with the access circuit node.

8. The sensing circuit of claim 6 further including a third current to voltage converter connected between the reference circuit node and the access circuit node.

9. The sensing circuit of claim 8 , wherein the third current to voltage converter includes a diode-connected transistor having the anode connected to the reference circuit node and the cathode connected to the access circuit node.

10. A sensing method for sensing threshold voltages of semiconductor memory cells, comprising:

during a precharge phase, bringing a voltage of an access circuit node coupling the sense circuit to a selected memory cell to a reference voltage;

during an evaluation phase, determining when a cell current flowing through a selected memory cell exceeds a reference current, said determining including:

providing the reference current to a reference circuit node coupled to the access circuit node;

converting a current flowing from the reference circuit node to an evaluation circuit node to a voltage difference between the reference circuit node and the evaluation circuit node, wherein said current is nearly equal to the reference current substantially at the end of the precharge phase;

comparing the voltage of the access circuit node with the voltage of the evaluation circuit node and providing a corresponding comparison signal whose time pattern indicates when the cell current exceeds the reference current,

wherein said converting is accomplished by means of an electronic device having essentially the behavior of a diode.

Assignments (8)