Abstract: It is beneficial for an FPGA, PROM, DRAM and superconductive circuit to use a protective ceramic as its insulating material. This protective ceramic can densely cover metal surface and is free of defects. As a result, a high yield can be ensured. The Pilling-Bedworth ratio is a good indicator of the protective nature of an insulating material. It is desirable to limit the Pilling-Bedworth ratio larger than 1 and preferably smaller than 2. Multiple layers of ceramics can be used to further reduce the defect density and improve yield.

Abstract: A read-only memory structure, having a three dimensional arrangement of memory elements, is disclosed. The memory elements are partitioned into multiple memory levels. Each memory level is stacked on top of another. Within each memory level, there are a plurarity of memory elements and address select lines. The memory elements can be either mask programmable or electrical programmable.

Abstract: An antifuse structure of the present invention comprises an antifuse layer and a bottom electrode which are immune to the damages caused by harmful processing environment. The three major components of the antifuse--the bottom electrode, the antifuse layer and the top buffer layer--are formed consecutively without any photolithography or etching step in-between. The top buffer layer is defined before the bottom electrode. This antifuse structure can substantially improve the antifuse manufacturability.

Abstract: DRAM cells using a multi-level storage capacitor structure is disclosed. Since the storage capacitors of the present invention can extend to the adjacent cells, they can have a much larger surface area than those using a single-level stacked capacitor structure. As a result, constraints on the dielectric constant of the insulating materials can be greatly relaxed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a high performance, high reliability antifuse using conductive electrodes. The problem of switch-off of the programmed antifuses is solved by reducing the thermal conductivity of the conductive electrodes. This is achieved by using lower thermal conductivity conductors for the electrodes or by using thinner electrodes to increase thermal resistance. According to a first aspect of the present invention, the problem of switch-off in conductor-to-conductor antifuses is solved by utilizing conductive electrode materials having a relatively lower thermal conductivity than prior art electrode materials. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the problem of switch-off in conductor-to-conductor antifuses is solved by utilizing relatively thin electrodes, thus increasing their thermal resistance.