Abstract: A method for fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit structure having a submicrometer length device element is described wherein a surface isolation pattern is formed in a semiconductor substrate to define regions which are designated to contain devices. A first insulating compound layer is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate which is designated to be in part the gate dielectric. Subsequently, a polycrystalline silicon layer is deposited onto the compound layer. The polycrystalline silicon layer is heavily doped by phosphorus ion implantation and annealed below about 850.degree. C. Polycrystalline silicon portions are delineated by photolithography and dry etching. Dry etching is carried out in SF.sub.6 -Cl.sub.2 /He at a low power density of about 0.1 to 0.3 watts/cm.sup.2. The remaining portions of polycrystalline silicon layer are subjected to a thermal oxidation at a temperature of about 800.degree. C.

Abstract: A logic circuit is provided which includes a multiplexer having a plurality of parallelly arranged channels, each channel including a switching device having a control element and responsive to a first control signal, a plurality of signal terminals, a common terminal, each of the channels being connected between a respective one of the plurality of signal terminals and the common terminal, and a termination circuit which includes a series circuit having a plurality of switching devices, each having a control element and being responsive to a second control signal. The control elements of each of the plurality of switching devices of the series circuit are coupled to a respective one of the control elements of the switching devices of the channels so that when one of the switching devices of the series circuit is turned on, the respective one of the switching devices of the channels is turned off, and vice versa.

Abstract: In an optical storage system where an information bearing surface moves relative to a read/write head the latter includes a transparent body in which light beams sent to and from the surface are guided by multiple internal reflections. Beam shaping and focussing is effected by optical elements integrated in the surface of the body at the locations where the internal reflections occur. A distortion free imaging system is obtained with two series-arranged aspheric reflection surfaces which focus the beam on the information bearing surface. The separation of the input and the reflected beam paths is achieved with a polarizing beam splitter and an associated quarter-wave layer. For readout of a magneto-optic information bearing surface a nonperfect polarizing beam splitter is used in connection with a differential detection scheme to increase the signal to noise/ratio.

Abstract: A static memory cell comprising a pair of cross-coupled transistors and a bit line driver/isolation stage configured as an inverter disposed between one node of the cross-coupled transistors and a read-select transistor. The cell is accessed through a bus which includes a read bit line and a write bit line, the word line being divided into a write word line and a read word line.

Abstract: A current-controlling circuit for producing either a constant current, independent of supply potential or a current which decreases with increasing supply potential and vice-versa. Three devices are connected together at a point such that the current in the first device and the current in the third device form the current in the second device. The current flowing in the first device is a mirror of the current flowing in a fourth device. When the supply potential increases, the increase in current in the first device at least equals the increase in current in the second device, so that the current in the third device does not increase. If the current in the third device decreases with increasing supply potential, it may be mirrored into subsequent devices which may then pass a constant current. The circuit may include an amplifying current mirror so that any change in current flowing in the first device is an amplified version of the change in current in the fourth device.

Abstract: A signal generator provides circular addressing, i.e., performs basic modulo boundary indexing, which includes both positive and negative addressing, by adding an increment to a base register until a modulo boundary is reached without permitting the carry bit to propagate but instead resetting the address back to its lowest value. More particularly, the invention provides a signal generator which includes an adder having base address signals applied thereto from one of a plurality of registers and having an operand such as signals from an instruction data register (IDR) also applied thereto. Selected most significant bits from the output of the adder are applied to the input of a modulo mask function unit. Also applied to the input of the modulo mask function is a number of most significant bits of the base address signal. The carry bit from the adder is also applied to the input of the modulo mask function unit.

Abstract: An improved memory sensing control circuit is provided wherein pulses derived from row or word address changes and from column or bit address changes are used to produce set pulses which are applied at optimum time intervals to a sense amplifier. More particularly, the memory sensing control circuit includes first and second paths for transmitting a bit decoder drive pulse coupled to a sense amplifier set device and means responsive to pulses derived from row or word and column or bit address change detecting means for selecting one of the first and second paths.

Abstract: A method for the digital slope control of the output signals of power amplifiers, as well as a power amplifier suitable for carrying out the method as described. One way of representing the actual slope value is via the number of clock pulses applied to a counter during a measuring interval which depends in its duration on the slope. Such a measuring interval is produced by applying the pulses of a ring oscillator containing one of the power amplifiers to another counter until the overflow of the latter. Another mode of representing the actual slope value consists in counting the number of pulses of the ring oscillator during a measuring interval of predetermined duration. Actual and nominal values of the slope are compared. The results of this comparison change the contents of a left/right-shift register.

Abstract: A signal delay circuit is provided which includes first and second circuits arranged parallel to each other, the first circuit having serially connected first and second transistors and the second circuit having a third transistor, and a fourth transistor connected from the common point between the first and second transistors to the second circuit, a signal is applied to one end of the parallelly arranged first and second circuits while the first, second and fourth transistors are turned on with the third transistor being turned off.

Abstract: A decoding process and a decoding circuit arrangement for a redundant semiconductor memory is described, wherein the advantages of parallelly selecting non-defective word lines and redundant word lines at a low level are utilized for the writing as well as for the reading current in such a manner that high speed reading and writing is not affected. This is achieved in that the decoder for the redundant word lines consists of a comparator circuit and fuse-controlled switches, and that the input addresses are applied to a conventional address decoder as well as to the comparator circuit.

Abstract: A dynamic random access memory is provided wherein each cell has a storage capacitor and switching device and a bit/sense line or plate located along a sidewall of a trench formed in a semiconductor substrate. In a more particular structure of the cell, the trench width defines the length of the switching device, with the storage capacitor and a highly conductive bit/sense line being formed along opposite sidewalls of the trench. In an array of such cells, the highly conductive bit/sense line or plane interconnecting a large number of the cells of the array extends continuously from cell to cell within the trench at a sidewall thereof. Likewise, the storage capacitors of these many cells have a highly conductive common plate extending continuously within the trench at the opposite sidewall.

Abstract: A method and semiconductor structure are provided for intermixing circuits of two or more different cell classes, such as standard cells and gate array cells, on a common chip or substrate with minimum ground rule separation between adjacent cells of different classes. Cell locations are defined with given boundaries and contiguosuly arranged on the surface of a semiconductor chip, and then either standard cell type or gate array type circuits are formed within any of the cell locations to provide a structure for balancing the chips density and performance versus hardware turn-around-time.

Abstract: A CMOS off-chip driver circuit is provided which includes a first P-channel field effect transistor arranged in series with a second or pull-up P-channel transistor and a third P-channel transistor connected from the common point between the first and second transistors and the gate electrode of the first transistor. The first and second transistors are disposed between a data output terminal and a first voltage source having a supply voltage of a given magnitude, with the data output terminal also being connected to a circuit or system including a second voltage source having a supply voltage of a magnitude significantly greater than that of the given magnitude. In a more specific aspect of this invention, a fourth P-channel transistor, disposed in a common N-well with the other P-channel transistors, is connected at its source to the first voltage source and at its drain to the common N-well, with its gate electrode being connected to the data output terminal.

Abstract: To align a grating on a mask with respect to an equivalent grating of a wafer in a photolithographic system where the mask is imaged by an imaging system onto the wafer, symmetrical diffraction orders (u.degree..sub.+1, u.degree..sub.-1) are focussed on the wafer grating and diffracted a second time to return colinear with the optical axis and to be deflected by a beam splitter to a photo detector. The intensity of the superimposed outbeams depends on the relative phase differences of the diffracted beams, and, hence, on the displacements of the mask and wafer gratings. The phase of the electrical output signal is determined by introducing periodic phase differences in the diffracted beams of the mask grating by a wobbling parallel glass plate. For simultaneous X-, Y- alignment, crossed gratings are used that operate on two pairs of diffracted beams. The polarization direction of one of these pairs is rotated by 90.degree.

Abstract: A simple CMOS receiver or buffer circuit is provided which includes a first inverter having its output connected to the input of a second inverter with rapid switching action in the first inverter at even low input voltage swings achieved by a parallel circuit that alters the first inverter switching point under the control of the applied input voltage. Third and fourth inverters are added for increasing the drive capability of the circuit.

Abstract: Sense amplifier for use in memory systems, particularly static random access memories (RAM). The sense amplifier circuitry comprises two inverters, one forming a regular amplifier, the other providing a reference voltage (V.sub.Ref) to the amplifier for determining the optimal operating point (A.sub.o) on the inverter's transfer curve, and to a bit line associated with a memory cell being read for biasing the line at its optimal operating level.The inverters used in the sense amplifier as voltage reference and as amplifier as well as the inverter pairs forming the memory cells may have similar structure and properties and can be formed on the same semiconductor chip.

Abstract: A memory is provided which includes a semiconductor substrate having a major surface and a trench disposed therein having a longitudinal axis, storage means disposed on a given sidewall of the trench, switching means having a control element and a current carrying element disposed on the given sidewall of the trench between the storage means and the major surface of the substrate and coupled to the storage means, a first electrically conductive line disposed on the given sidewall in contact with the control element of the switching means and having a longitudinal axis arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trench, and a second electrically conductive line disposed on the major surface of the semiconductor substrate in contact with the current carrying electrode of the switching means and having a longitudinal axis arranged orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the trench.

Abstract: Digital binary multipliers are provided which include first and second inverting full adders, each having first, second and third input terminals and first and second output terminals, the first output terminal of the first adder being connected to the first input terminal of the second adder with the first, second and third input terminals and the first and second output terminals of the second adder having a relationship with respect to the input and output terminals of the first adder such that corresponding input and output terminals have opposite signal polarities or complementary terminals, i.e., when one of these input or output terminals of the first adder has a true polarity signal, its corresponding input or output terminal of the second adder has a complemented polarity signal.

Abstract: An inverting full adder circuit for use in a ripple-carry adder or arithmetic logic unit (ALU) which includes a plurality of similar full adder stages connected in series such that the carry delay from one stage to the next is minimized, and which requires fewer devices and less space on the surface of a semiconductor chip than do known adders or ALUs of comparable performance. This invention may use either N-channel field effect transistors, i.e., NMOS technology, or it may use complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology.

Abstract: A memory cell formed in a groove or trench in a semiconductor substrate is provided which includes a storage capacitor located at the bottom and along the lower portion of the sidewalls of the trench, a bit/sense line disposed at the surface of the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the trench, a transfer device or transistor located on the sidewall of the trench between the capacitor and the bit/sense line and a field shield for electrically isolating the storage capacitor from an adjacent cell formed in the same semiconductor substrate.