JP2009123328A - Semiconductor memory device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor memory device realizing reduction in power consumption and speeding up of operation.
SOLUTION: Capacitor plate lines CP1a to CP4a, CP1b and CP2b are connected between bit lines BL1 to BL6, and data is read and written according to potentials of word lines WL1 to WL4 and capacitor plate lines CP1a to CP4a, CP1b and CP2b. A ferroelectric memory cell FMC9 formed on a substrate is provided with word lines WL1 to WL4 including at least two portions having different positions in the bit line direction on the substrate. A semiconductor memory device is provided.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device including a ferroelectric memory (FeRAM) using a ferroelectric as a capacitor cell.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first configuration of a cell array in a conventional ferroelectric memory. Here, FIG. 1A is a plan view showing the configuration of the cell array, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure taken along line IV-IV shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, as an example, a case is shown in which a total of 24 ferroelectric memory cells FMC are arranged in a lattice shape with 4 vertical and 6 horizontal.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional ferroelectric memory includes ferroelectric memory cells FMC, word lines WL1 to WL4, bit lines BL1 to BL6, and capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4. Here, the word lines WL1 to WL4 and the capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4 are wired in parallel to each other on the layout as shown in FIG. 1A, and the bit lines BL1 to BL6 are connected to the word lines WL1 to WL4 and the word lines WL1 to WL4. Wiring is performed orthogonal to the capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, this ferroelectric memory is formed on a silicon substrate 1, and transistors having diffusion regions SD1 and SD2 and word lines WL1 to WL4 are formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 1. It is formed. Each diffusion region SD1 formed between the word lines WL1 and WL2 and between the word lines WL3 and WL4 has a bit line contact with the bit lines BL1 to BL6, and a capacitor plate line on the diffusion region SD2. Ferroelectric memory cells FMC and FMC1 are formed between CP1 and CP4.

  A circuit diagram of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC1 is connected between the N-channel MOS transistor NT whose gate is connected to the word line WL1 and the capacitor plate line CP1, so that the word line WL1. And the capacitor plate line CP1.

  In the cell array having the above-described configuration in which the word lines WL1 to WL4 and the capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4 are wired in parallel, for example, the word line WL1 is activated to a high level to form the ferroelectric memory cell FMC1. When accessing, not only the ferroelectric memory cell FMC1 is connected to the bit line BL1, but also the ferroelectric memory cells FMC2 to FMC6 connected to the capacitor plate line CP1 are connected to the corresponding bit lines BL2 to BL6, respectively. The

  Accordingly, when the capacitor plate line CP1 is pulse-driven in the above state, the bit line capacitance having a large value by the bit lines BL1 to BL6 is connected in series with the cell capacitance by the ferroelectric memory cells FMC1 to FMC6. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to drive a large capacity and power consumption increases.

  In the above case, it is necessary to rewrite data in all the ferroelectric memory cells FMC1 to FMC6 from which data is read to the bit lines BL1 to BL6 by activating the word line WL1. There was also a problem of being.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second configuration of the cell array in the conventional ferroelectric memory. The cell array in the conventional ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 3 has the same configuration as the cell array shown in FIG. 1, but the word lines WL1 to WL2 and the capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP2 are wired orthogonally. This is different.

  Similarly to the above, when the ferroelectric memory cell FMC1 is accessed by activating the word line WL1 to a high level, for example, the ferroelectric memory cells FMC1, FMC7, and FMC8 connected to the capacitor plate line CP1. Of these, only the ferroelectric memory cell FMC1 is connected to the bit line, but it is necessary to drive all the ferroelectric memory cells FMC1, FMC7, FMC8 connected to the capacitor plate line CP1. is there.

  That is, in general, the number of ferroelectric memory cells arranged in the bit line direction in FIG. 3 is more than twice the number of ferroelectric memory cells arranged in the word line direction. The capacitances of the lines CP1 and CP2 are large. Therefore, when driving the capacitor plate line CP1, not only the power consumption increases, but also the bit line BL1 and the power supply voltage (VDD) node due to the large driving force used for the capacitor plate line CP1. (Not shown) There is a problem that noise is generated in a sense amplifier or the like, and in some cases, a malfunction occurs in the ferroelectric memory.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memory device that realizes reduction in power consumption and increase in operation speed.

  The above object is to form ferroelectric memory cells connected between the capacitor plate line and the bit line and reading and writing data according to the potential of the word line and the capacitor plate line in an array on the substrate. A semiconductor memory device, a plurality of ferroelectric memories formed at word lines connected to at least two ferroelectric memory cells having different positions in the bit line direction, or at positions shifted in the bit line direction This is achieved by providing a semiconductor memory device comprising a capacitor plate line connected to a cell. According to such means, it is possible to reduce the number of ferroelectric memory cells simultaneously selected by activating the capacitor plate line and the word line.

  The semiconductor memory device may include both the word line and the capacitor plate line.

  Further, by further providing dummy ferroelectric memory cells formed on the outer periphery of the ferroelectric memory cells arranged in an array, the quality of the ferroelectric memory cells for actual use can be improved. The ferroelectric memory is further provided with driving means for selectively driving the capacitor plate line and the word line according to the row address and the column address designating the position of the ferroelectric memory cell to be accessed. It is possible to realize high-speed data reading / writing from / to the cell.

  An amplifying means for amplifying data read from the ferroelectric memory cell provided for the number of ferroelectric memory cells simultaneously selected by driving the word line and the capacitor plate line, and the ferroelectric memory According to the semiconductor memory device further comprising selection means for selecting the data read from the simultaneously selected ferroelectric memory cells among the cells and supplying the data to the amplification means, the required area occupied by the amplification means Can be reduced.

  Another object of the present invention is a semiconductor memory device for selecting a ferroelectric memory cell by driving a word line and a capacitor plate line, and a plurality of ferroelectric memories connected to the activated word line A semiconductor memory device comprising a cell and a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells connected to an activated capacitor plate line, the word line and the capacitor plate line wired differently at least in part Is achieved by providing

  As described above, according to the semiconductor memory device of the present invention, by activating the capacitor plate line and the word line, the number of ferroelectric memory cells that are simultaneously selected is reduced, and the power consumption is reduced. The operation can be speeded up.

  Further, by further providing dummy ferroelectric memory cells formed on the outer periphery of the ferroelectric memory cells arranged in an array, the quality of the ferroelectric memory cells for actual use can be improved. A highly reliable semiconductor memory device can be obtained.

  Further, since it is sufficient to provide amplification means as many as the number of ferroelectric memory cells selected at the same time, according to the semiconductor memory device of the present invention, the area occupied by the amplification means required can be reduced, and the circuit scale can be reduced. Can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows the 1st structure of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory with which the conventional semiconductor memory device was equipped. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a cell array in the ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the 2nd structure of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory with which the conventional semiconductor memory device was equipped. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cell array in a ferroelectric memory provided in a semiconductor memory device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a cell array in the ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows the structure of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory with which the semiconductor memory device concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention was equipped. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a cell array in the ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 6. It is a circuit diagram which shows the structure of the semiconductor memory device based on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the structure of the semiconductor memory device concerning Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a 2-bit adder circuit shown in FIG. 9. It is a figure which shows the structure of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory with which the semiconductor memory device based on Embodiment 4 of this invention was equipped. It is a figure which shows the structure of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory with which the semiconductor memory device based on Embodiment 5 of this invention was equipped.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the configuration of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory provided in the semiconductor memory device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, as in FIG. 1, as an example, a total of 24 ferroelectric memory cells are arranged in 4 vertical (direction along the bit line) and 6 horizontal (direction perpendicular to the bit line). The case is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ferroelectric memory according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a ferroelectric memory cell FMC9, word lines WL1 to WL4, bit lines BL1 to BL6, and capacitor plate lines CP1a to CP1a. CP4a, CP1b, CP2b. In the cell array configuration shown in FIG. 4, the word lines WL1 to WL4 include a portion parallel to the capacitor plate lines CP1a to CP4a and a portion shifted in a direction parallel to the bit lines BL1 to BL6. It is characterized in that it is wired in steps. Note that the capacitor plate line CP1a and the capacitor plate line CP1b, and the capacitor plate line CP2a and the capacitor plate line CP2b shown in FIG. 4 are electrically at the same potential or connected to each other.

  Here, the circuit diagram of the cell array shown in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, ferroelectric memory cells FMC9, FMC10, FMC15, FMC16, FMC17, and FMC18 are connected to the capacitor plate line CP3a. When the word line WL3 is activated, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC9 is connected to the bit line BL1, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC10 is connected to the bit line BL2. Similarly, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC11 connected to the capacitor plate line CP4a is connected to the bit line BL3, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC12 connected to the capacitor plate line CP4a is connected to the bit line BL4. Further, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC13 connected to the capacitor plate line CP1b is connected to the bit line BL5, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC14 also connected to the capacitor plate line CP1b is connected to the bit line BL6.

  Although omitted in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the bit lines BL1 and BL2 are connected to the data buses DB1 and DB2 via the gate circuit GT1, respectively, and the bit lines BL3 and BL4 are connected to the gate circuit GT2. Are connected to the data buses DB1 and DB2, respectively. The sense amplifiers SA1 and SA2 are connected to the data buses DB1 and DB2, respectively, and the selection signal generated by the selection circuit 2 is supplied to the gate circuits GT1 and GT2.

  Here, for example, when accessing the ferroelectric memory cell FMC9, the word line WL3 is activated and the capacitor plate line CP3a is driven. However, as described above, the strong potential connected to the capacitor plate line CP3a. Among the dielectric memory cells, only the two ferroelectric memory cells FMC9 and FMC10 are connected to the bit line when the word line WL3 is activated.

  Therefore, when the capacitor plate line CP3a is pulse-driven in the above-described state, the cell capacity of the ferroelectric memory cells FMC9, FMC10, FMC15, FMC16, FMC17, and FMC18 and the bit line capacity of the bit lines BL1 and BL2 As compared with the conventional semiconductor memory device having the cell array shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the power consumption corresponding to the bit line capacity by the bit lines BL3 to BL6 is sufficient. Can be reduced. Further, as described above, when the word line WL3 is activated and the capacitor plate line CP3a is driven, data read from the ferroelectric memory cells FMC9 and FMC10 is transmitted through the bit lines BL1 and BL2. When the selection circuit 2 selectively opens the gate circuit GT1 according to the supplied address, the data read from the ferroelectric memory cells FMC9 and FMC10 are transmitted to the data buses DB1 and DB2, respectively. Then, the sense amplifier SA1 amplifies the data transmitted through the data bus DB1, and the sense amplifier SA2 amplifies the data transmitted through the data bus DB2, whereby the data read from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC9 is amplified by the sense amplifier SA1. Can be obtained as output.

  Here, it is generally sufficient to provide sense amplifiers corresponding to the number of memory cells selected at the same time (two in the semiconductor memory device according to the first embodiment). According to such a semiconductor memory device, by reducing the number of ferroelectric memory cells selected at the same time, the number of necessary sense amplifiers can be reduced and the circuit scale of the semiconductor memory device can be reduced.

  Next, the effect of the cell array configuration as described above is obtained by, for example, a cell array in which 64 rows of ferroelectric memory cells are arranged vertically (in the direction along the bit line) and 32 columns in the lateral direction (in the direction along the word line). To evaluate quantitatively. Note that 32 bit lines and 64 word lines are wired in the cell array, and each bit line has a capacitance Cb of 700 fF and one ferroelectric memory cell has a capacitance Cf of 200 fF. The above evaluation is performed when 8-bit access is applied.

  First, in the conventional ferroelectric memory shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which word lines WL1 to WL4 and capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4 are wired in parallel, 32 ferroelectric memory cells are simultaneously accessed. At the same time, since the 32 ferroelectric memory cells are connected to the bit line by the access, the capacitor plate line needs to drive a capacity of 28.8 pF calculated by Cb × 32 + Cf × 32. On the other hand, in the conventional ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 3 in which the word lines WL1 and WL2 and the capacitor plate lines CP1 and CP2 are wired orthogonally, 64 ferroelectric memory cells are provided on one bit line. Therefore, in 8-bit access, the capacitor plate line needs to drive a capacitance of 108.0 pF calculated by Cb × 8 + Cf × 64 × 8.

  Here, in the ferroelectric memory according to the first embodiment, 32 ferroelectric memory cells are connected to one capacitor plate line as described above, but the selected word line is activated. Since the number of ferroelectric memory cells connected to the bit line is eight in the case of 8-bit access, the capacitor plate line drives a capacitance of 12.0 pF calculated by Cb × 8 + Cf × 32. This will be enough.

  As described above, by providing the ferroelectric memory according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption of the semiconductor memory device can be reduced, and the pulse transmission speed in driving the capacitor plate line can be increased. The operation can be speeded up.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory provided in the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, as in FIG. 4, as an example, a total of 24 ferroelectric memory cells FMC are arranged in 4 vertical (direction along the bit line) and 6 horizontal (direction perpendicular to the bit line). The case is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the ferroelectric memory according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a ferroelectric memory cell FMC, word lines WL1a to WL4a, WL1b, WL2b, bit lines BL1 to BL6, and capacitors. Plate lines CP1 to CP4 are provided. Here, the cell array configuration shown in FIG. 6 is characterized in that the word lines and the capacitor plate lines are wired stepwise on the silicon substrate 1. That is, when two ferroelectric memory cells FMC adjacent in the direction orthogonal to the bit lines BL1 to BL6 are each one cell unit UT1 to UT3, the capacitor plate lines CP1 to CP4 are as shown in FIG. The ferroelectric memory cells FMC included in the cell units UT1 to UT3 that are shifted by a distance of one cell in the bit line direction are sequentially connected.

  In the above description, the word line 1a and the word line 1b, and the word line 2a and the word line 2b are electrically set at the same potential or connected to each other.

  Here, a circuit diagram of the cell array shown in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, for example, ferroelectric memory cells FMC19 to FMC24 are connected to the capacitor plate line CP3. When the word line WL3a is activated, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 is connected to the bit line BL1, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC20 is connected to the bit line BL2. Similarly, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC25 connected to the capacitor plate line CP2 is connected to the bit line BL3, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC26 also connected to the capacitor plate line CP2 is connected to the bit line BL4. Further, the ferroelectric memory cell FMC27 connected to the capacitor plate line CP1 is connected to the bit line BL5, and the ferroelectric memory cell FMC28 also connected to the capacitor plate line CP1 is connected to the bit line BL6.

  Here, for example, when accessing the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19, the word line WL3a is activated and the capacitor plate line CP3 is driven. As described above, the ferroelectric plate connected to the capacitor plate line CP3 is driven. Among the dielectric memory cells, only the two ferroelectric memory cells FMC19 and FMC20 are connected to the bit line when the word line WL3a is activated.

  Therefore, when the capacitor plate line CP3 is pulse-driven in the above-described state, a capacity obtained by combining the cell capacity of the ferroelectric memory cells FMC19 to FMC24 and the bit line capacity of the bit lines BL1 and BL2 is driven. Therefore, compared with the conventional semiconductor memory device having the cell array shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the power consumption can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the bit line capacity of the bit lines BL3 to BL6.

  FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, as an example, a total of 16 ferroelectric memory cells FMC are provided in 4 rows in the vertical direction (bit line direction) and 4 columns in the horizontal direction (word line direction). Each of the cell units UT1 to UT3 is a ferroelectric memory composed of one ferroelectric memory cell FMC. In the ferroelectric memory, as will be described in detail below, one ferroelectric memory cell FMC is simultaneously selected according to the supplied row address A0, A1 and column address A2, A3. .

  As shown in FIG. 8, the peripheral circuit of the ferroelectric memory included in the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment includes a word line decoder 3, a plate line decoder 5, a plate line pulse generating circuit 7, and the like. , A word line pulse generation circuit 9, a timing control circuit 11a, a sense amplifier 13, a write amplification circuit 15, NOR circuits 23 and 45, AND circuits 41 to 44, and N channel MOS transistors NT1 to NT4.

  The word line decoder 3 includes a plurality of decode units DU1 provided corresponding to the word lines WL0a to WL3a and WL0b to WL2b, inverting circuits 31 to 33 and inverting circuits 34 to 36 connected in series. The word lines WL1a to WL4a, WL1b, WL2b are selected according to the supplied column addresses A2, A3.

  Each decode unit DU1 includes OR circuits 16 to 19, AND circuits 20 and 21, a NOR circuit 22, and an inverting circuit 24. Further, the input nodes of the OR circuits 16 and 18 are connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 35 and the power supply voltage node VDD, and the input node of the OR circuit 17 is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 34 and the power supply voltage node VDD. The 19 input nodes are connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 34 and the output node of a NAND circuit 37 described later.

  The input node of the AND circuit 20 is connected to the output nodes of the OR circuits 16 and 17 and the output node of the inverting circuit 31, and the input nodes of the AND circuit 21 are the output nodes of the OR circuits 18 and 19 and the output node of the inverting circuit 32. Connected to. The input node of the NOR circuit 22 is connected to the output nodes of the AND circuits 20 and 21, and the input node of the inverting circuit 24 is connected to the output node of the NOR circuit 22. Here, in the word line decoder 3 having the above configuration, the column address A2 is supplied to the inverting circuit 36 and the column address A3 is supplied to the inverting circuit 33.

  The NOR circuit 23 whose output node is connected to the word line WL2b has its input node connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 24 and the word line pulse generation circuit 9.

  On the other hand, the plate line decoder 5 includes NAND circuits 37 to 40, inverter circuits 25 to 27 and inverter circuits 28 to 30 connected in series, and capacitor plate lines CP0 to CP0 according to the supplied row addresses A0 and A1. Select CP3. Here, the input node of the NAND circuit 37 is connected to the inverting circuit 26 and the inverting circuit 29, and the input node of the NAND circuit 38 is connected to the inverting circuit 25 and the inverting circuit 29. The input node of the NAND circuit 39 is connected to the inverting circuit 26 and the inverting circuit 28, and the input node of the NAND circuit 40 is connected to the inverting circuit 25 and the inverting circuit 28. Here, in the plate line decoder 5 having the above configuration, the row address A0 is supplied to the inverting circuit 27 and the row address A1 is supplied to the inverting circuit 30.

  The input node of the NOR circuit 45 whose output node is connected to the capacitor plate line CP3 is connected to the output node of the NAND circuit 37 and the plate line pulse generation circuit 7.

  The plate line pulse generation circuit 7, the word line pulse generation circuit 9, and the sense amplifier 13 are connected to the timing control circuit 11a, and the write amplification circuit 15 is connected to the sense amplifier 13 and the timing control circuit 11a.

  The input node of the AND circuit 41 is connected to the output nodes of the inverting circuits 31 and 34, and the input node of the AND circuit 42 is connected to the output nodes of the inverting circuits 31 and 35. Similarly, the input node of the AND circuit 43 is connected to the output nodes of the inverting circuits 32 and 34, and the input node of the AND circuit 44 is connected to the output nodes of the inverting circuits 32 and 35.

  N channel MOS transistors NT1 to NT4 are connected between sense amplifier 13 and write amplifier circuit 15 and corresponding bit lines BL1 to BL4, and the gate of N channel MOS transistor NT1 is connected to AND circuit 41. Connected to the output node, the gate of N channel MOS transistor NT 2 is connected to the output node of AND circuit 42. Similarly, the gate of N channel MOS transistor NT 3 is connected to the output node of AND circuit 43, and the gate of N channel MOS transistor NT 4 is connected to the output node of AND circuit 44.

  Next, the operation of the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment having the above configuration will be described. For example, when data is read from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 shown in FIG. 8, the NOR circuit 23 connected to the word line WL3a is selected according to the column addresses A2 and A3 supplied to the word line decoder 3. A signal is supplied. At this time, the NOR circuit 23 activates the word line WL3a in the low period to a high level in response to a low level pulse signal supplied from the word line pulse generation circuit 9. As a result, during this period, the N-channel MOS transistor NT connected between the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 and the bit line BL1 is turned on.

  At this time, the NOR circuit 45 connected to the capacitor plate line CP3 is supplied with a selection signal corresponding to the row addresses A0 and A1 from the NAND circuit 37 included in the plate line decoder 5. At this time, the NOR circuit 45 drives the capacitor plate line CP3 in accordance with the pulse signal supplied from the plate line pulse generation circuit 7.

  As a result, data is read from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 to the bit line BL1, amplified by the sense amplifier 13, and output as data Dout. The data read operation has been described above. In the case of data write, the write data Din is supplied to the write amplifier circuit 15 and the write data Din is supplied to the selected ferroelectric memory cell as described above. Is written.

  In the above description, the plate line pulse generation circuit 7, the word line pulse generation circuit 9, the sense amplifier 13, and the write amplification circuit 15 are respectively operated by the timing control circuit 11a to which the clock signal CK and the write enable signal WE are supplied. Timing is controlled.

  As described above, according to the semiconductor memory device including the ferroelectric memory according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption can be reduced as in the semiconductor memory device according to the first embodiment. Reading and writing data to and from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC can be speeded up.

  The peripheral circuit of the ferroelectric memory shown in FIG. 8 as described above is combined with the cell array of the ferroelectric memory cell according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. It goes without saying that the same effect as that of the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment can be obtained.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of the semiconductor memory device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the semiconductor memory device according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as the semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, but the word line decoder 3 and the plate line. The configuration of the decoder 5 is different.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the row decoder 46 according to the third embodiment includes NAND circuits 37 to 43, inverting circuits 25 to 30, and a 2-bit adder circuit 61. Here, the NAND circuits 37 to 43 are provided so as to correspond to the word lines WL0a to WL3a and WL0b to WL2b on a one-to-one basis. The input nodes of the NAND circuit 43 are connected to the inverting circuit 25 and the 2-bit adder circuit 61. The input node of the circuit 42 is connected to the inverting circuit 28 and the 2-bit adder circuit 61.

  Similarly, the input node of the NAND circuit 41 is connected to the inverting circuits 25 and 28, the input node of the NAND circuit 37 is connected to the 2-bit adder circuit 61, and the input node of the NAND circuit 37 is connected to the 2-bit adder circuit 61. Is done. The input node of the NAND circuit 38 is connected to the inverting circuit 25 and the 2-bit adder circuit 61, the input node of the NAND circuit 39 is connected to the inverting circuit 28 and the 2-bit adder circuit 61, and the input node of the NAND circuit 40 is inverted. Connected to circuits 25 and 28.

  FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of 2-bit adder circuit 61 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the 2-bit adder circuit 61 includes AND circuits 62 and 63, exclusive OR circuits 64 and 65, and an inverting circuit 66. Here, the input node of the AND circuit 62 is connected to the nodes Na and Nc, the input node of the AND circuit 63 is connected to the output node of the AND circuit 62 and the output node of the inverting circuit 66, and the output node is connected to the node Nf. Is done. The input node of the exclusive OR circuit 64 is connected to the node Na and the node Nc, and the output node is connected to the node Ne. Further, the input node of the exclusive OR circuit 65 is connected to the nodes Nb and Nd, and the input node of the inverting circuit 66 is connected to the output node of the exclusive OR circuit 65.

  Here, the node Na is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 26, the node Nb is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 29, the node Nc is connected to the output node of the AND circuit 60, and the node Nd is connected to the AND circuit 59. Connected to output node. The node Ne is connected to the input node of the inverting circuit 25, and the node Nf is connected to the input node of the inverting circuit 28.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the semiconductor memory device according to the present embodiment, decode unit DU2 whose output node is connected to NOR circuit 45 in a one-to-one correspondence with capacitor plate lines CP0 to CP3. Is provided. Here, each decode unit DU <b> 2 has a similar configuration, and includes NAND circuits 51 to 54 and an inverting circuit 55. The input node of the NAND circuit 51 is connected to the output node of the NAND circuit 37 and the output node of the inverting circuit 56. The input node of the NAND circuit 52 is connected to the output node of the NAND circuit 51 and the output node of the NAND circuit 54. The output node is connected to the input node of NOR circuit 45.

  The input node of the NAND circuit 53 is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 55 and the output node of the inverting circuit 56, and the input node of the NAND circuit 54 is connected to the output node of the NAND circuit 52 and the output node of the NAND circuit 53, The output node is connected to the input node of the NAND circuit 52 as described above. Further, the input node of AND circuit 55 is connected to the output node of NAND circuit 37, and the output node is connected to the input node of NAND circuit 53.

  Further, inversion circuits 57 and 58 and an inversion circuit 56 connected in series are connected to the timing control circuit 11b. Further, the input node of the AND circuit 59 is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 57 and the output node of the inverting circuit 32, and the input node of the AND circuit 60 is connected to the output node of the inverting circuit 57 and the output node of the inverting circuit 35. The

  Next, the operation of the semiconductor memory device according to the third embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described by taking as an example the case where data is read from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 shown in FIG. First, when a low level signal is supplied from the timing control circuit 11b to the inversion circuit 58, the NAND circuit 37 included in the row decoder 46 is connected to the capacitor plate in accordance with the row addresses A0 and A1 supplied from the outside during this period. A CP address signal for selecting the line CP3 is supplied to the decode unit DU2. The decode unit DU2 latches the CP address signal and supplies it to the NOR circuit 45 connected to the capacitor plate line CP3.

  Accordingly, the NOR circuit 45 drives the capacitor plate line CP3 in accordance with the pulse signal supplied from the plate line pulse generation circuit 7.

  Next, when the timing control circuit 11b supplies a high level signal to the inverting circuit 58, the 2-bit adder circuit 61 adds the 2-bit column addresses A2 and A3 to the externally supplied row addresses A0 and A1. To generate a word line selection signal. Then, the row decoder 46 selects the word line WL3a according to the word line selection signal.

  That is, a signal for selecting the word line WL3a is supplied from the NAND circuit 37 included in the row decoder 46 to the NOR circuit 23 connected to the word line WL3a. At this time, the NOR circuit 23 activates the word line WL3a to a high level in accordance with the pulse signal supplied from the word line pulse generation circuit 9. As a result, the N-channel MOS transistor NT connected between the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 and the bit line BL1 is turned on.

  As a result, data is read from the ferroelectric memory cell FMC19 to the bit line BL1, amplified by the sense amplifier 13, and output as data Dout. The data read operation has been described above. In the case of data write, the write data Din is supplied to the write amplifier circuit 15 and the write data Din is supplied to the selected ferroelectric memory cell as described above. Is written.

  In the above, the plate line pulse generation circuit 7, the word line pulse generation circuit 9, the sense amplifier 13, the write amplification circuit 15, and the 2-bit adder circuit 61 are supplied with the clock signal CK and the write enable signal WE. The operation timing is controlled by the control circuit 11b.

  As described above, according to the semiconductor memory device including the ferroelectric memory according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption can be reduced as in the semiconductor memory devices according to the first and second embodiments. At the same time, the reading and writing of data with respect to the ferroelectric memory cell FMC can be speeded up.

[Embodiment 4]
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the configuration of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory provided in the semiconductor memory device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the cell array in the ferroelectric memory according to the fourth embodiment has the same configuration as the cell array in the ferroelectric memory according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. The difference between the units UT1 to UT3 in the direction of the bit lines BL1 to BL6 is that the distance is equivalent to 1/2 of the ferroelectric memory cell FMC. Note that the cell array shown in FIG. 11 can be represented by the circuit diagram shown in FIG.

  According to such a semiconductor memory device according to the fourth embodiment, the cell array of the ferroelectric memory cells formed on the silicon substrate 1 can be made rectangular as a whole. 2 can be obtained, and the circuit area of the semiconductor memory device can be further reduced by reducing the area occupied by the cell array.

[Embodiment 5]
FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the configuration of the cell array in the ferroelectric memory provided in the semiconductor memory device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the cell array in the ferroelectric memory according to the fifth embodiment has the same configuration as the cell array in the ferroelectric memory according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is a real memory cell array RMCA, and is different in that a dummy ferroelectric memory cell DFMC not having a bit line contact is provided around the cell array.

  That is, in the cell array in the ferroelectric memory according to the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, dummy word lines DWL0 and DWL1, dummy capacitor plate lines DCP1 to DCP3, Dummy bit lines DBL1 to DBL4 are formed, and further, a dummy ferroelectric memory cell DFMC without bit line contact is formed.

  According to the semiconductor memory device according to the fifth embodiment having the configuration as described above, the same effects as those of the semiconductor memory device according to the fourth embodiment can be obtained, and the strength according to the fourth embodiment can be obtained. When the cell array in the dielectric memory is formed on the silicon substrate 1, it is possible to avoid the influence of exposure failure occurring in the peripheral portion of the substrate.

  That is, according to the cell array configuration of the fifth embodiment, a high-quality ferroelectric memory cell array can be obtained as the real memory cell array RMCA shown in FIG. A device can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Silicon substrate 2 Selection circuit 3 Word line decoder 5 Plate line decoder 7 Plate line pulse generation circuit 9 Word line pulse generation circuit 11a, 11b Timing control circuit 13 Sense amplifier 15 Write amplification circuit 16-19 OR circuit 20, 21, 41- 44, 59, 60, 62, 63 AND circuit 22, 23, 45 NOR circuit 24-36, 50, 66 Inversion circuit 37-43, 51-58 NAND circuit 46 Row decoder 61 2-bit adder circuit 64, 65 Exclusive OR Circuits FMC, FMC1 to FMC28 Ferroelectric memory cells DFMC Dummy ferroelectric memory cells SD1, SD2 Diffusion regions WL1-WL4, WL0a-WL4a, WL0b-WL2b Word lines DWL0, DWL1 Dummy word lines BL1-BL6 Bit lines DBL1-DBL4 Dummy bit Lines CP0 to CP4, CP0a to CP4a, CP1b, CP2b Capacitor plate lines DCP0 to DCP3 Dummy capacitor plate lines GT1 to GT2 Gate circuits SA1, SA2 Sense amplifiers DB1, DB2 Data buses UT1 to UT3 Cell units DU1, DU2 Decoding units NT, NT1 ~ NT4 N channel MOS transistor RMCA Real memory cell array VDD Power supply voltage node Na ~ Nf node

Claims (9)

A semiconductor memory device in which a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells connected between a capacitor plate line and a bit line and reading and writing data according to the potential of the word line and the capacitor plate line are formed in an array on the substrate Because
One word line decoder as a ROW decoder and one capacitor plate line decoder as a ROW decoder, one for each array;
A plurality of word lines connected to the word line decoder;
A plurality of capacitor plate lines connected to the capacitor plate line decoder,
Of the plurality of capacitor plate lines, one block among a plurality of blocks formed by dividing a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells connected to one capacitor plate line in a horizontal direction corresponds to a plurality of ROW addresses. A semiconductor memory device, wherein the semiconductor memory device is connected to a word line so that the word line is selected. A semiconductor memory device in which a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells connected between a capacitor plate line and a bit line and reading and writing data according to the potential of the word line and the capacitor plate line are formed in an array on the substrate Because
One word line decoder as a ROW decoder and one capacitor plate line decoder as a ROW decoder, one for each array;
A plurality of word lines connected to the word line decoder;
A plurality of capacitor plate lines connected to the capacitor plate line decoder,
Among the plurality of word lines, one of a plurality of blocks formed by dividing a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells connected to one word line in a horizontal direction is a capacitor corresponding to a plurality of ROW addresses. A semiconductor memory device connected to a capacitor plate line so as to be selected by a plate line.   3. The semiconductor memory device according to claim 1, further comprising dummy ferroelectric memory cells formed on an outer periphery of the ferroelectric memory cells arranged in an array.   3. A drive means for selectively driving the capacitor plate line and the word line according to a row address and a column address designating a position of the ferroelectric memory cell to be accessed. The semiconductor memory device described in 1. Amplifying means for amplifying the data read from the ferroelectric memory cells, provided by the number of the ferroelectric memory cells simultaneously selected by driving the word line and the capacitor plate line;
3. The selecting unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a selecting unit that selects the data read from the ferroelectric memory cell that is simultaneously selected from the ferroelectric memory cells and supplies the data to the amplifying unit. Semiconductor memory device.   2. The semiconductor memory device according to claim 1, wherein the word lines are arranged stepwise on a substrate on which the ferroelectric capacitors are formed in an array.   3. The semiconductor memory device according to claim 2, wherein the capacitor plate line is arranged in a step shape on a substrate on which the ferroelectric capacitors are formed in an array. A ferroelectric memory cell connected between a capacitor plate line and a bit line and capable of reading and writing data according to the potential of the word line and the capacitor plate line is a semiconductor memory device formed in an array on a substrate. And
One word line decoder and one capacitor plate line decoder provided on the same side of the array, one for each array;
A plurality of word lines connected to the word line decoder;
A plurality of capacitor plate lines connected to the capacitor plate line decoder,
A semiconductor memory device, wherein a ferroelectric memory cell connected to one capacitor plate line and a ferroelectric memory cell connected to another capacitor plate line are connected to the same word line. A ferroelectric memory cell connected between a capacitor plate line and a bit line and capable of reading and writing data according to the potential of the word line and the capacitor plate line is a semiconductor memory device formed in an array on a substrate. And
One word line decoder and one capacitor plate line decoder provided on the same side of the array, one for each array;
A plurality of word lines connected to the word line decoder;
A plurality of capacitor plate lines connected to the capacitor plate line decoder,
A semiconductor memory device, wherein a ferroelectric memory cell connected to one word line and a ferroelectric memory cell connected to another word line are connected to the same capacitor plate line.

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