Patent ID: 6157242
Filing Date: 2000-12-05
Classification: H02M

Abstract:
A charge pump, comprising:n (n: an integer, n.gtoreq.2) series-connected boosting stages for receiving an input voltage and providing a boosted output voltage, each boosting stage having first and second switching transistors and first and second boosting capacitors associated with the first and second switching transistors, respectively, each boosting capacitor connected with a gate of the associated switching transistor;a clock signal supply circuit for providing a first clock signal and a second clock signal which have specified phases different from each other; anda clock signal boost circuit for boosting voltages of the first and second clock signals,wherein in m (m: an integer, n>m.gtoreq.1) latter boosting stages, inclusive of a final boosting stage, of all the n boosting stages, the first and second boosting capacitors are supplied with the boosted first and second clock signals output from the clock signal boost circuit, respectively, while in (n-m) former boosting stages, the first and second boosting capacitors are directly supplied with the first and second clock signals output from the clock signal supply circuit, respectively.