# Patent

## Title
Current sense amplifiers, memory devices and methods

## Abstract

A current sense amplifier may include one or more clamping circuits coupled between differential output nodes of the amplifier. The clamping circuits may be enabled during at least a portion of the time that the sense amplifier is sensing the state of a memory cell coupled to a differential input of the sense amplifier. The clamping circuits may be disabled during the time that the sense amplifier is sensing the state of a memory cell at different times in a staggered manner. The clamping circuits may be effecting in making the current sense amplifier less sensitive to noise signals.

## Background
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/820,050, filed Jun. 21, 2010. This application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes.


TECHNICAL FIELD
Embodiments of this invention relate to memory devices and methods, and, more particularly, current sense amplifiers and methods and memory devices and methods using current sense amplifiers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Memory devices typically include a plurality of memory cells, which may be arranged in an array of intersecting rows and columns. The location of each cell in the array may be indicated with an address, such as a row address and/or a column address. The memory cells may be read by selecting a row of memory cells with a corresponding row address. A bit of stored data may then be coupled from all or some of the columns in the addressed row.
Memory devices may store data using a variety of techniques. For example, dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) devices may use memory cells that are essentially small capacitors that store data based on the amount of charge stored in the capacitors. When a memory cell is read, the memory cell may be coupled to a digit line so that the charge of the capacitor is shared with a charge of the digit line to which it is coupled. This charge sharing results in a small change in the voltage to which the digit line had been previously charged. A respective sense amplifier coupled to each digit line may be utilized to sense a small differential between the voltage on the digit line and the voltage on a complementary digit line. Voltage sense amplifiers have long been used in this manner to sense voltage differentials between complementary digit lines. However, voltage sense amplifiers may not function well over a wide range of power supply voltages, particularly at the low end of the range. For example, at low supply voltages the sense amplifier may not respond quickly enough to the voltage differential being sensed.
Another type of sense amplifier that may function better than voltage sense amplifiers in some cases, particularly at low supply voltages, are current sense amplifiers. Current sense amplifiers sense a differential in the current flow from complementary digit lines resulting from coupling one of the digit lines to a memory cell, such as a DRAM memory cell. However, at lower supply voltage, even current sense amplifiers may be unable to respond to a current differential with sufficient speed, and they may tend to incorrectly respond to noise signals, thereby producing invalid data results. This problem may be particularly acute as the electrical characteristics of electrical components used in current sense amplifiers may charge responsive to process, supply voltage and temperature variations.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a prior art current sense amplifier.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier according to one embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a timing diagram showing one embodiment for operating the current sense amplifier of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier that is the complement of the current sense amplifier of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier according to another embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier that is the complement of the current sense amplifier of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier according to still another embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a current sense amplifier that is the complement of the current sense amplifier of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a memory system that may use the current sense amplifiers of FIGS. 2 and 4-8 or a current sense amplifier according to some other embodiment.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An embodiment of a conventional current sense amplifier 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The current sense amplifier 10 includes a pair of NMOS current sensing transistors 14, 16, which have their gates and drains cross-coupled to each other. Respective sources of the transistors 14, 16 may be coupled to the drains of respective NMOS transistors 20, 22, which may receive an active high Enable signal at their gates. The interconnected drains of the transistors 14, 20 may receive an input signal In at a first input node 26, while the interconnected drains of the transistors 16, 22 may receive a complementary input signal InB at a second input node 28. The sources of the transistors 20, 22 may be coupled to a first supply voltage, such as ground. The drains of the transistors 14, 16 may be coupled to the drains of respective PMOS transistors 30, 32, which may receive an active low EnableB signal at their respective gates. The interconnected drains of the transistors 14, 30 may provide an output signal OutB at a first output node 36, while the interconnected drains of the transistors 16, 32 may provide a complementary output signal Out at a second output node 38. The sources of the transistors 30, 32 may be coupled to a second supply voltage, such as VDD. Finally, a clamping circuit 40 may be coupled between the drains of the sensing transistors 14, 16, and the gate of the transistor 42 receives an equilibration signal EQ.
In operation, the input nodes 26, 28 may be coupled to respective complementary digit lines (not shown). The sense amplifier may be energized by applying a high ENABLE signal to the gates of the transistors 20, 22, and applying a low ENABLEB signal to the gates of the transistors 30, 32. However, before a current differential is sensed by the sense amplifier 10, the clamping circuit 40 is turned ON by applying a high EQ signal to its gate, thereby coupling the drains of the sensing transistors 14, 16 to each other so that they are at substantially the same voltage when sensing of a memory cell commences. A memory cell may then be coupled to one of the input nodes 26, 28. For example, if a memory cell storing a logic “1” is coupled to the input node 28, a current i may be supplied to the input node 28, while no similar current is supplied to the input node 26. However, since the transistors 20, 22 are biased with the same voltage and the voltages of the digit lines coupled to the input nodes 26, 28 are substantially the same, the currents through the transistors 20, 22 are substantially equal. Thus, if a current of I flows through each of the transistors 20, 22, the current flowing through the transistor 14 will also be I, but the current flowing through the transistor 16 will be I-i. The relatively little current flowing through the transistor 16 compared to the current flowing through the transistor 14 may cause the voltage at the output node 38 to be less than the voltage at the output node 36, Further, gain provided by the sensing transistors 14, 16 may result in positive feedback, which amplifies this differential voltage. More specifically, the lower voltage at the output node 38 applied to the gate of the transistor 14 may cause the transistor 14 to be turned ON to a lesser degree than the transistor 16, thereby further raising the voltage at the output node 36. This increased voltage at the output node 36 is applied to the gate of the transistor 16 to turn ON the transistor 16 to a greater degree than the transistor 14, thereby further reducing the voltage at the output node 38.
One disadvantage of the current sensing amplifier 10 is shown in FIG. 1 is that it may be susceptible to being responsive to noise signals, thereby resulting in invalid data. This sensitivity to noise signals may result from the drains of the sensing transistor 14, 16 being equilibrated to the same voltage prior to sensing. Therefore, if a noise signal is received at one of the input nodes 26, 28 the change in the voltage at one input node compared to the other may cause the sense transistors 14, 16 to respond because of the high gain of the transistors 14, 16. This problem might be reduced by reducing the gain of the transistors 14, 16, but doing so might reduce the speed at which the sense amplifier 10 can sense a differential current.
An embodiment of a current sense amplifier 100 that may avoid some or all of these problems is shown in FIG. 2. The current sense amplifier 100 may use many of the same components that are used in the prior art current sense amplifier 10 shown in FIG. 1, and these common components may function in essentially the same manner. Therefore components in the current sense amplifier 100 of FIG. 2 have been provided with the same reference numerals as the corresponding components in the current sense amplifier 10 of FIG. 1, and an explanation of their operation will not be repeated. The current sense amplifier 100 of FIG. 2 differs from the current sense amplifier 10 of FIG. 1 by the use of two clamping circuits 110, 112 rather than a single clamping circuit 40 used in the sense amplifier 10, and in the use of a pass gate having both a PMOS transistor 116 and an NMOS transistor 118 instead of the single NMOS transistor 42 used in the clamping circuit 40 of the sense amplifier 10. The NMOS transistor 118 in the clamping circuit 110 may be coupled to one output of a control circuit 120, and the PMOS transistor 116 in the clamping circuit 110 may couple to the same output of a control circuit 120 through an inverter 124. In the same manner, the NMOS transistor 118 in the clamping circuit 112 may be coupled to another output of the control circuit 120, and the PMOS transistor 116 in the clamping circuit 112 may be coupled to the same output of a control circuit 120 through an inverter 128. The use of both the PMOS transistor 116 and the NMOS transistor 118 in each clamping circuit 110, 112 may allow the output nodes 36, 38 to be coupled to each other regardless of the voltages of the output nodes 36, 38. In contrast, the single NMOS transistor 42 used in the clamping circuit 40 may require that the output nodes 36, 38 be at a voltage that is lower than the voltage used for the EQ signal by at least the threshold voltage of the transistor 42.
The current sense amplifier 100 of FIG. 2 also differs from the current sense amplifier 10 of Figure I in the manner in which the clamping circuits 110, 112 are operated compared to the manner in which the clamping circuit 40 is operated. Instead of using the prior art technique of actuating the clamping circuit 40 only before a memory cell is to be sensed, the control circuit 120 may actuate the clamping circuit 110, 112 during the time that the memory cell is sensed. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, in one embodiment the sense amplifier 100 is enabled at time to by transitioning the Enable signal high and transitioning the EnableB signal low. At that time, the clamping circuits 110, 112 are in an actuated condition by the respective high Clamp1 and Clamp2 signals. A short time later at time t1, a memory cell is coupled to one of the input nodes 26, 28, and the differential current In/InB at the input nodes 26, 28 starts to increase negatively. The differential current In/InB reaches a peak at time t4, and thereafter begins to decrease. Just after time t1, the differential current In/InB is relatively small so a prior art sense amplifier 100 might be susceptible to responding to noise signals, thereby providing invalid data. However, the sense amplifier 100 may be relatively insensitive to noise signals because the actuated clamping circuits 110, 112 may limit the gain of the sense amplifier 100 at that time. Thereafter, when the differential current In/InB has increased significantly, the control circuit deactivates the clamping circuit 110 by transitioning the Clamp1 signal low, thereby increasing the gain of the sense amplifier 100. The gain of the sense amplifier 100 may again be increased at a later time t2 without a significant risk of responding to noise signals because of the increased magnitude of the differential current In/InB and/or an increase in the differential output signal Out/OutB after the sense amplifier has responded to the differential current In/InB Furthermore, after the magnitude of the differential current In/InB and/or the differential output signal Out/OutB has further increased, the gain of the sense amplifier 100 may be further increased without a significant risk of responding to noise signals. Therefore, the clamping circuit 112 may be deactivated at time t3 by transitioning the Clamp2 signal low. Finally, the sense amplifier 100 may be disabled at time t6 by transitioning the Enable signal low and the EnableB signal high. Thus, by staggering the deactivation of the clamping circuits 110, 112, the gain of the sense amplifier 100 may be gradually increased as the sense amplifier becomes gradually less susceptible to responding to noise signals.
Although the embodiment of the sense amplifier 100 shown in FIG. 2 uses two clamping circuits 110, 112, it should be understood that other configurations may also be used. For example, the sense amplifier 100 may use a single clamping circuit operated in a manner similar to the operation explained with reference to FIG. 3 in which the clamping circuit is active for at least a portion of the time that a memory cell is being sensed. By way of further example, the number of clamping circuits used in a current sense amplifier may be greater than two, and the times at which all or some of them may be disabled may be staggered.
An embodiment of a current sense amplifier 130 that is complementary to the current sense amplifier 100 is shown in FIG. 4. Therefore the components of the current sense amplifier 130 have been provided with reference numerals that differ from the corresponding components in the current sense amplifier 100 only by the suffix “a” in the event complementary components are used. In all other respects the structure and operation of the current sense amplifier 130 may be the same as the structure and operation of the current sense amplifier 100.
Another embodiment of a current sense amplifier 140 is shown in FIG. 5, and a complementary current sense amplifier 150 is shown in FIG. 6. The current sense amplifiers 140, 150 may differ from the current sense amplifiers 100, 130, respectively, by separating the clamping circuits 110, 112 from each other with resistors 144, 146. The resistors 144, 146 may be used to adjust the output resistance and hence the gain of the sense amplifiers 140, 150 when the clamping circuit 112, 112a is enabled.
Another embodiment of a current sense amplifier 160 and its complement 170 are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. The current sense amplifiers 160, 170 differ from the current sense amplifiers 140, 150, respectively, by omitting the clamping circuit 110, 110a so that only a single clamping circuit 112, 112a is used. As explained above, a single clamping circuit 112, 112a may be used instead of multiple clamping circuits as long as the single clamping circuit is enabled at least during a portion of the time that a memory cell is being sensed, such as during the portion of the time that a memory cell is initially being sensed.
FIG. 9 is block diagram of an embodiment of a memory system 200 that may use the current sense amplifiers of FIGS. 2 and 4-8 or a current sense amplifier according to some other embodiment. The memory system 200 may include an array 202 of memory cells, which may be, for example, DRAM memory cells, SRAM memory cells, flash memory cells, or some other types of memory cells. The memory system 200 may include a command decoder 206 that receives memory commands through a command bus 208 and generates corresponding control signals within the memory system 200 to carry out various memory operations. Row and column address signals may be applied to the memory system 200 through an address bus 220 and provided to an address latch 210. The address latch 210 may then output a separate column address and a separate row address to the memory array 202. The column address decoder 228 may select digit lines extending through the array 202 corresponding to respective column addresses. The row address decoder 222 may activate respective rows of memory cells in the array 202 corresponding to received row addresses. The selected digit line corresponding to a received column address may be coupled to a read/write circuit 230. The read/write circuit 230 may include current sense amplifiers 234 to provide read data to a data output buffer 234 via an input-output data bus 240. The current sense amplifiers may be any of the current sense amplifiers 100, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4-8, respectively, or a current sense amplifier according to some other embodiment. Write data may be applied to the memory array 202 through a data input buffer 244 and the memory array read/write circuitry 230. The command decoder 206 may respond to memory commands applied to the command bus 208 to perform various operations in the memory array 202. In particular, the command decoder 206 may be used to generate internal control signals to operate the control circuit 120 used in each of the current sense amplifiers 100, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the disclosed embodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the invention. Such modifications are well within the skill of those ordinarily skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

## Claims

1. An amplifier, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conductivity type coupled between first and second nodes;
a second transistor of the first conductivity type coupled between third and fourth nodes, a control gate of the first transistor being coupled to the third node and a control gate of the second transistor being coupled to the first node;
a first clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a first clamp signal;
a second clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a second clamp signal;
first and second resistors coupled between the first clamp circuit and the second clamp circuit; and
a control circuit configured to provide the first clamp signal to the first clamp circuit and to stop provision of the first clamp signal to the first clamp circuit after the amplifier has been enabled, and to provide the second clamp signal to the second clamp circuit and to stop provision of the second clamp signal to the second clamp circuit after the amplifier has been enabled.

2. The amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to stop provision of the first clamp signal to the first clamp circuit during a time when the amplifier is enabled.

3. The amplifier as claimed in claim 2, wherein, after provision of the first clamp signal has been stopped, the control circuit is configured to provide the first clamp signal to the first clamp circuit before the amplifier is disabled.

4. The amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to stop provision of the second clamp signal to the second clamp circuit during a time when the amplifier is enabled and after terminating provision of the first clamp signal to the first clamp circuit.

5. The amplifier as claimed in claim 4, wherein, after provision of the second clamp signal has been stopped, the control circuit is configured to provide the second clamp signal to the second clamp circuit before the amplifier is disabled.

6. The amplifier as claimed in claim 1, the amplifier further comprising:
a first resistor coupled between the clamp circuit and the first node; and
a second resistor coupled between the clamp circuit and the third node.

7. The amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first node is a first output node, the second node is a first input node, the third node is a second output node and the fourth node is a second input node.

8. An amplifier, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conductivity type coupled between first and second nodes;
a second transistor of the first conductivity type coupled between third and fourth nodes, a control gate of the first transistor being coupled to the third node and a control gate of the second transistor being coupled to the first node;
a third transistor of the first conductivity type coupled between the second node and a fifth node;
a fourth transistor of the first conductivity type coupled between the fourth node and a sixth node, the fifth and sixth nodes being supplied with a first power source potential, the third and fourth transistors being configured to form a current path between the second and fifth nodes and between the fourth and sixth nodes, respectively, responsive to a receipt of an enable information at control gates of the third and fourth transistors;
a fifth transistor of a second conductivity type coupled between the first node and a seventh node;
a sixth transistor of the second conductivity type coupled between the third node and an eighth node, the seventh and eighth nodes being supplied with a second power source potential, the fifth and sixth transistors being configured to form a current path between the first and seventh nodes and between the third and eighth nodes, respectively, responsive to a receipt of the enable information at control gates of the fifth and sixth transistors;
a clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a clamp signal; and
a control circuit configured to provide an active clamp signal to actuate the clamp circuit before control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors receive active enable information and maintain provision of the active clamp signal to the clamp circuit after the control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors receive the active enable information.

9. The amplifier as claimed in claim 8, wherein the control circuit is configured to terminate provision of the active clamp signal to deactivate the clamp circuit during a time when the control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors receive active the enable information.

10. The amplifier as claimed in claim 9, wherein, after terminating provision of the active clamp signal to the clamp circuit, the control circuit is configured to provide the clamp signal to actuate the clamp circuit before the control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors stop reception of the active enable information.

11. The amplifier as claimed in claim 8,
wherein the clamp circuit is a first clamp circuit and the clamp signal is a first clamp signal, the amplifier further comprising:
a second clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a second clamp signal,
wherein the control circuit configured to provide an active second clamp signal to actuate the second clamp circuit before control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors receive the active enable information, maintain provision of the active second clamp signal to the second clamp circuit after the control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors receive the active enable information, and terminate provision of the active second clamp signal to deactivate the second clamp circuit after terminating provision of the active first clamp signal to deactivate the first clamp circuit.

12. The amplifier as claimed in claim 11, wherein, after provision of the active second clamp signal has been terminated, the control circuit is configured to provide the second clamp signal to actuate the second clamp circuit before the control gates of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth transistors are terminated receiving the active enable information.

13. The amplifier as claimed in claim 11, the amplifier further comprising:
a first resistor coupled between a connecting point of the first transistor and the first clamp circuit and a connecting point of the fifth transistor and the second clamp circuit; and
a second resistor coupled between a connecting point of the second transistor and the first clamp circuit and a connecting point of the sixth transistor and the second clamp circuit.

14. The amplifier as claimed in claim 8, the amplifier further comprising:
a first resistor coupled between the first node and a connecting point of the fifth transistor and the clamp circuit; and
a second resistor coupled between the second node and a connecting point of the sixth transistor and the clamp circuit.

15. The amplifier as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first node is a first output node, the second node is a first input node, the third node is a second output node and the fourth node is a second input node.

16. An amplifier, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conductivity type coupled between first and second nodes;
a second transistor of the first conductivity type coupled between third and fourth nodes, a control gate of the first transistor being coupled to the third node and a control gate of the second transistor being coupled to the first node;
a first clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a first clamp signal;
a second clamp circuit coupled between the first and third nodes and configured to form a current path between the first and third nodes responsive to a second clamp signal; and
first and second resistors coupled between the first clamp circuit and the second clamp circuit.

17. The amplifier as claimed in claim 16, the amplifier further comprising:
a control circuit configured to provide the first clamp signal and the second clamp signal, wherein timing of provision of the first clamp signal is different than timing of provision of the second clamp signal.

18. The amplifier as claimed in claim 17, wherein timing of transition from active to inactive for the first clamp signal is different than timing of transition from active to inactive for the second clamp signal, wherein timing of transition from inactive to active for the first clamp signal is equal to timing of transition from inactive to active for the second clamp signal.