A new programmable cell utilizing insulator breakdown

A new programmable cell called the Breakdown-of-Insulator-for-Conduction cell (BIC cell) has been proposed and developed. A BIC cell utilizes the electrical breakdown of an insulator for programming. A highly refined thin insulator, with a delta-function type of breakdown voltage distribution, is employed in the BIC cell. This cell can be programmed within 1 µsec, making it possible to realize the shortest programming time for PROM cells reported so far Programmed cell resistance is around 1×10²ohms. Since a BIC cell has a stacked-cell structure, a PROM cell can be formed simply by merging a BIC cell with a MOSFET. Then, a PROM cell array can be formed from these cells. A programming method for a PROM cell array is discussed below.