Patent ID: 7706159
Filing Date: 2010-04-27
Classification: H02M

Abstract:
1. A charge pump comprising: an input terminal receiving an input voltage; an output terminal outputting an output voltage; a voltage level shifter shifting voltage levels of first and second gate clock signals so that received first and second gate clock signals output from the voltage level shifter have a predetermined amplitude, wherein the voltage level shifter receives the output voltage from the output terminal of the charge pump and shifts a voltage level so that amplitudes of the first and second gate clock signals become a magnitude of the output voltage; and a plurality of charge pumping stages connected in series between the input terminal and the output terminal, wherein each charge pumping stage comprises: a charge transfer transistor transferring a voltage input to a first terminal to a second terminal, applying one of the first and second gate clock signals output from the voltage level shifter to a first gate terminal, and a level of a voltage transferred to the second terminal is a maximum level of the first and second gate clock signals output from the voltage level shifter; and a swing transistor including a second gate terminal connected to the first terminal of the charge transfer transistor, a third terminal of the swing transistor connected to the second terminal of the charge transfer transistor, and a fourth terminal of the swing transistor connected to the first gate terminal of the charge transfer transistor, and wherein a maximum value of a voltage applied to the first gate terminal of the charge transfer transistor drops to a minimum value of a voltage applied to the first gate terminal of the charge transfer transistor when one of the first and second gate clock signals output from the voltage level shifter is inverted from a high level to a low level.