Patent ID: 6522593
Filing Date: 2003-02-18
Classification: G11C

Abstract:
A sense amplifier circuit for a semiconductor device, comprising:a first pull-up driver for supplying an external power voltage to a pull-up bias node of the sense amp according to a first pull-up control signal; a second pull-up driver for supplying an internal power voltage to the pull-up bias node according to a second pull-up control signal; a first pull-down driver for discharging a voltage of a pull-down bias node of the sense amp into a ground voltage according to the first pull-down control signal; a second pull-down driver for discharging a voltage of the pull-down bias node into a ground voltage according to a second pull-down control signal; a voltage detector for generating a detecting signal by comparing a magnitude of the internal power voltage with a reference voltage according to a word line control signal before the sense amp operation; and a selecting driver for receiving the detecting signal, an address decoding signal and a sense amp enable signal, for generating the first pull-up control signal having a first pulse width in an initial operation of the sense amp, generating the second pull-up control signal, and generating the first pull-down control signal according to the sense amp enable signal when the internal power voltage is high according to the detecting signal, and for generating the first pull-up control signal having a second pulse width greater than the first pulse width in the initial operation of the sense amp, generating the second pull-up control signal, and generating the first and second pull-down control signals according to the sense amp enable signal when the internal power voltage is low.