Abstract: The semiconductor device includes a supply circuit for supplying a boosted voltage to a distal end of a wiring driven by a drive signal. The supply circuit includes an inverter circuit having an input coupled to the wiring, and a switch element controlled by an output signal of the inverter circuit. The switch element couples the boosted voltage to the distal end of the wiring.

Abstract: This invention is to improve a performance of a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a p-type well region formed in the semiconductor substrate, a first insulating layer formed over the p-type well region, a semiconductor layer formed over the first insulating layer, a second insulating layer formed over the semiconductor layer, and a conductor layer formed over the second insulating layer. A first capacitive element is comprised of the semiconductor layer, the second insulating layer, and the conductor layer, while a second capacitive element is comprised of the p-type well region, the first insulating layer, and the semiconductor layer, in which each of the semiconductor substrate and the semiconductor layer includes a single crystal silicon layer.

Abstract: When a void is caused in an interlayer insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, the invention prevents short circuit between two or more contact plugs that sandwich the void therebetween via a conductive film buried in the void at the time of formation of the contact plugs. An element isolation region having an upper surface lower than a main surface of the semiconductor substrate is formed inside a trench in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, so that a void formed immediately above the semiconductor substrate in an active region and a void formed immediately above the element isolation region are divided from each other. In this manner, a conductive film is prevented from being buried in the second void.

Abstract: An upper surface of a plug (PL1) is formed so as to be higher than an upper surface of an interlayer insulating film (PIL) by forming the interlayer insulating film (PIL) on a semiconductor substrate (1S), completing a CMP method for forming the plug (PL1) inside the interlayer insulating film (PIL), and then, making the upper surface of the interlayer insulating film (PIL) to recede. In this manner, reliability of connection between the plug (PL1) and a wiring (W1) in a vertical direction can be ensured. Also, the wiring (W1) can be formed so as not to be embedded inside the interlayer insulating film (PIL), or a formed amount by the embedding can be reduced.

Abstract: The present invention provides a semiconductor device capable of properly performing equalization even when the transfer rate of serial data is changed. A semiconductor device includes: an addition circuit of adding input data and feedback data and outputting addition data; a first sampling circuit of sampling the addition data from the addition circuit and outputting sampling data; a multiplication circuit of multiplying the sampling data from the first sampling circuit by a tap coefficient to generate the feedback data; a tap coefficient determination circuit determining the tap coefficient on the basis of the sampling data from the first sampling circuit; and a calibration circuit of adjusting a delay time since the first sampling circuit outputs the sampling data until the addition data corresponding to the output sampling data is supplied to the first sampling circuit.

Abstract: To provide a semiconductor device capable of having an ONO-film-configuring second oxide film with an optimized thickness. The semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate having a first surface, a first gate insulating film placed on the first surface located in a first transistor formation region, and a second gate insulating film placed on the first surface located in a second transistor formation region. The first gate insulating film has a first oxide film, a first nitride film placed thereon, and a second oxide film placed thereon. The second oxide film includes a first layer and a second layer placed thereon. The height of the first surface in a region where the second insulating film is placed is lower than that in a region where the first gate insulating film is placed. The nitrogen concentration in the first layer is higher than that in the second layer.

Abstract: Characteristics of a semiconductor device are improved. A semiconductor device includes a coil CL1 and a wiring M2 formed on an interlayer insulator IL2, a wiring M3 formed on an interlayer insulator IL3, and a coil CL2 and a wiring M4 formed on the interlayer insulator IL4. Moreover, a distance DM4 between the coil CL2 and the wiring M4 is longer than a distance DM3 between the coil CL2 and the wiring M3 (DM4>DM3). Furthermore, the distance DM3 between the coil CL2 and the wiring M3 is set to be longer than a sum of a film thickness of the interlayer insulator IL3 and a film thickness of the interlayer insulator IL4, which are positioned between the coil CL1 and the coil CL2. In this manner, it is possible to improve an insulation withstand voltage between the coil CL2 and the wiring M4 or the like, where a high voltage difference tend to occur.

Abstract: The present embodiments are directed to an improved switched capacitor (SC) converter topology that does not include an inductor. In particular, the topology includes a ladder SC circuit configured as a cap divider, with a gate driving signal being generated to initiate the charging and discharging of the capacitor. In this specific topology, an unregulated output voltage is produced that is a certain fraction of an input voltage of a power source such as a battery. The present embodiments further include a variable frequency modulation (VFM) scheme based on the current-sensing techniques for the gate driving signal generation of the switched capacitor converter.

Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device having improved performance. In a semiconductor substrate located in a memory cell region, a memory cell of a nonvolatile memory is formed while, in the semiconductor substrate located in a peripheral circuit region, a MISFET is formed. At this time, over the semiconductor substrate located in the memory cell region, a control gate electrode and a memory gate electrode each for the memory cell are formed first. Then, an insulating film is formed so as to cover the control gate electrode and the memory gate electrode. Subsequently, the upper surface of the insulating film is polished to be planarized. Thereafter, a conductive film for the gate electrode of the MISFET is formed and then patterned to form a gate electrode or a dummy gate electrode for the MISFET in the peripheral circuit region.

Abstract: A semiconductor device according to one embodiment includes a semiconductor substrate having a first surface, an insulating isolation film disposed at the first surface, and a gate electrode. The semiconductor substrate has a source region, a drain region, a drift region, and a body region. The insulating isolation film has a first portion disposed inside the drift region in plan view, a second portion protruding from the first portion in a direction toward the source region, and a third portion protruding from the first portion in the direction toward the source region and sandwiching the drift region between the second portion and the third portion. The gate electrode faces a portion of the body region sandwiched between the source region and the drift region with being insulated from the portion. The gate electrode is disposed so as to extend over the second portion and the third portion.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a first insulating film having a first thickness over a main surface of a semiconductor substrate and then forming a second insulating film having a second thickness larger than the first thickness over the first insulating film, sequentially processing the second insulating film, the first insulating film, and the semiconductor substrate to form a plurality of trenches and to form a plurality of projecting portions which include portions of the semiconductor substrate extending in a first direction along the main surface of the semiconductor substrate and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction along the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and depositing a third insulating film over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate such that the third insulating film is embedded in the trenches.

Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first mode and a second mode different from the first mode, includes a memory circuit including a first switch, a memory array, and a peripheral circuit. A first power source line is electrically coupled with an I/O circuit of the peripheral circuit and is supplied with a first voltage in the first mode. A second power source line is electrically coupled with a memory cell of the memory array, and supplied with a second voltage lower than the first voltage in the second mode.

Abstract: A semiconductor device having an SRAM which includes: a monolithic first active region in which a first transistor and a fifth transistor are disposed; a second active region separated from the first active region, in which a second transistor is disposed; a monolithic third active region in which a third transistor and a sixth transistor are disposed; and a fourth active region separated from the third active region, in which a fourth transistor is disposed. Each driver transistor is divided into a first transistor and a second transistor (or a third transistor and a fourth transistor) and these driver transistors are disposed over different active regions.

Abstract: A semiconductor device, a semiconductor system, and a control method of a semiconductor device are capable of accurately monitoring the lowest operating voltage of a circuit to be monitored. According to one embodiment, a monitor unit of a semiconductor system includes a voltage monitor that is driven by a second power supply voltage different from a first power supply voltage supplied to an internal circuit that is a circuit to be monitored and monitors the first power supply voltage, and a delay monitor that is driven by the first power supply voltage and monitors the signal propagation period of time of a critical path in the internal circuit.

Abstract: A semiconductor device is obtained in which a first insulating film for a gate insulating film of a memory element is formed over a semiconductor substrate in a memory region, a second insulating film for a gate insulating film of a lower-breakdown-voltage MISFET is formed over the semiconductor substrate in a lower-breakdown-voltage MISFET formation region, and a third insulating film for a gate insulating film of a higher-breakdown-voltage MISFET is formed over the semiconductor substrate in a higher-breakdown-voltage MISFET formation region. Subsequently, a film for gate electrodes is formed and then patterned to form the respective gate electrodes of the memory element, the lower-breakdown-voltage MISFET, and the higher-breakdown-voltage MISFET. The step of forming the second insulating film is performed after the step of forming the first insulating film. The step of forming the third insulating film is performed before the step of forming the first insulating film.

Abstract: The present embodiments are directed to an improved switched capacitor (SC) converter topology that does not include an inductor. In particular, the topology includes a ladder SC circuit configured as a cap divider, with a gate driving signal being generated to initiate the charging and discharging of the capacitor. In this specific topology, an unregulated output voltage is produced that is a certain fraction of an input voltage of a power source such as a battery. The present embodiments further include a variable frequency modulation (VFM) scheme based on the current-sensing techniques for the gate driving signal generation of the switched capacitor converter.

Abstract: A PLL circuit includes a phase comparator, first and second charge pumps, a filter generating a first control voltage from a current of the first charge pump, a comparator comparing a voltage of a first node with a reference voltage, a switch section outputting the reference voltage to the first node and outputting a current of the second charge pump to a second node in a high-speed lock mode, and outputting the current of the second charge pump to the first node and outputting a result from the comparator to the second node in a normal lock mode, a second filter generating a second control voltage by integrating a current of the first node, a third filter generating a third control voltage by integrating a current of the second node, and a voltage controlled oscillator generating a clock signal of a frequency corresponding to the first to third control voltages.

Abstract: The reliability of a semiconductor device is improved. A contact trench for coupling a field plate and a field limiting ring situated at the corner part of a semiconductor device is formed of a first straight line part and a second straight line part arranged line symmetrically with respect to the crystal orientation <011>. Respective one ends of the first straight line part and the second straight line part are coupled at the crystal orientation <011>, and the first straight line part and the second straight line part are set to extend in different directions from the crystal orientation <010> and the crystal orientation <011>.

Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor storage device including: first memory cells; first word lines; first bit lines; a first common bit line; second memory cells; second word lines; second bit lines; a second common bit line; a first selection circuit that connects the first common bit line to a first bit line selected from the first bit lines; a second selection circuit that connects the second common bit line to a second bit line selected from the second bit lines; a word line driver that activates any one of the first and second word lines; a reference current supply unit that supplies a reference current to a common bit line among the first and second common bit lines, the common bit line not being electrically connected to a data read target memory cell; and a sense amplifier that amplifies a potential difference between the first and second common bit lines.

Abstract: A microcomputer is provided for each of industrial apparatuses to synchronously control them and includes a CPU, a peripheral module, and a communication interface. The peripheral module controls an external apparatus based on a specified control parameter. The communication interface includes a time register that is synchronized with the other apparatuses in time series. The communication interface issues a CPU interrupt and a peripheral module interrupt to the CPU and the peripheral module, respectively, if a successively settled correction time matches the time register. In response to the peripheral module interrupt, the peripheral module changes the control parameter from a current value to an update value. In response to the CPU interrupt, the CPU starts an update program to calculate the next update value for the control parameter and writes the calculated value to the peripheral module.