Abstract: Sense amplifiers are respectively located at both ends of a bit line pair. These sense amplifiers amplify a voltage difference between the bit line pair in response to a sense amplifier active signal during a sensing period. Since the voltage difference between the bit line pair is amplified at the both ends of the bit line pair, the time spent amplifying the voltage between the bit line pair may be shortened.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a semiconductor memory which is not susceptible to the change of a threshold value caused by variations in a fabricating process. The semiconductor memory comprises a memory cell part, a voltage generation circuit for generating a substrate voltage of the memory cell part, a threshold value detection circuit for outputting threshold value detection signals in response to a threshold value of a transistor formed on the memory cell part, and a voltage detection circuit for detecting the substrate voltage generated by the voltage generation circuit, outputting a voltage detection signal at a given voltage in response to the threshold value detection signals to stop the operation of the voltage generation circuit.