Abstract:
Many integrated circuits, particularly digital memories, include millions of field-effect transistors which operate simultaneously and thus consume considerable power. One way to reduce power consumption is to lower transistor threshold, or turn-on, voltage, and then use lower-voltage power supplies. Although conventional techniques of lowering threshold voltage have enabled use of 2-volt power supplies, even lower voltages are needed. Several proposals involving a dynamic threshold concept have been promising, but have failed, primarily because of circuit-space considerations, to yield practical devices. Accordingly, the present invention provides a space-saving structure for a field-effect transistor having a dynamic threshold voltage. One embodiment includes a vertical gate-to-body coupling capacitor that reduces the surface area required to realize the dynamic threshold concept. Other embodiments include an inverter, voltage sense amplifier, and a memory. Ultimately, the invention facilitates use of half-volt (or lower) power supplies.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a Divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/031,960 filed on Feb. 26, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention concerns integrated circuits that include field-effect transistors, particularly metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors.  
           [0003]    Integrated circuits, the key components in thousands of electronic and computer products, are interconnected networks of electrical components fabricated on a common foundation, or substrate. Fabricators typically use various techniques, such as layering, doping, masking, and etching, to build thousands and even millions of microscopic transistors, resistors, and other electrical components on a silicon substrate, known as a wafer. The components are then “wired,” or interconnected, together to define a specific electric circuit, such as a computer memory.  
           [0004]    Many integrated circuits include a common type of transistor known as a metal-oxide-semiconductor, field-effect transistor, or “mosfet” for short. A mosfet has four electrodes, or contacts—specifically, a gate, source, drain, and body. In digital integrated circuits, such as logic circuits, memories, and microprocessors which operate with electrical signals representing ones and zeroes, each mosfet behaves primarily as a switch, with its gate serving to open and close a channel connecting its source and drain. Closing the switch requires applying a certain threshold voltage to the gate, and opening it requires either decreasing or increasing the gate voltage (relative the threshold voltage), depending on whether the channel is made of negatively or positively doped semiconductive material.  
           [0005]    Mosfets are the most common transistors used in integrated-circuit memories, because of their small size and low power requirements. Integrated-circuit memories typically include millions of mosfets operating simultaneously, to store millions of bits of data. With so many mosfets operating simultaneously, the power consumption of each mosfet is an important concern to memory fabricators. Moreover, as fabricators continually strive to pack more and more mosfets into memory circuits to increase data capacity, the need for even lower power and lower voltage mosfets compounds.  
           [0006]    Conventional mosfets operate with power supply voltages as low as two volts. Although lower supply voltages are desirable, fabricators have reached a technical impasse based on their inability to make millions of mosfets with perfectly identical threshold voltages. Hence, each of the mosfets has its own unique threshold voltage, with some deviating only slightly from the fabricator&#39;s intended threshold voltage and others deviating significantly. The typical range of threshold voltages in memory circuits extends from 0.2 volts above to 0.2 volts below the intended threshold voltage.  
           [0007]    Thus, for example, if fabricators build mosfets with an intended threshold of one-quarter volt to accommodate half-volt power supplies, some mosfets will actually have a threshold around 0.4 volts and others around 0.05 volts. In practice, these deviant mosfets are prone not only to turn on and off randomly because of inevitable power-supply fluctuations or electrical noise affecting their gate voltages, but also to turn on and off at widely variant rates. Therefore, to avoid random operation and promote uniform switching rates, fabricators raise the intended threshold to a higher level, which, in turn, forecloses the option of using lower power-supply voltages.  
           [0008]    Recently, three approaches involving the concept of a dynamic, or variable threshold voltage, have emerged as potential solutions to this problem. But, unfortunately none has proven very practical. One dynamic-threshold approach directly connects, or shorts, the gate of a mosfet to its body, causing the mosfet to have a lower effective threshold during switching and higher threshold during non-switching periods. (See, Tsuneaki Fuse et al., A 0.5V 200 MHZ 32b ALU Using Body Bias Controlled SOI Pass-Gate Logic, IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference, San Francisco, pp. 292-93, 1997.) However, this approach forces the mosfet to draw significant power even when turned off, in other words, to run continuously. This poses a particularly serious limitation for battery-powered applications, such as portable computers, data organizers, cellular phones, etc.  
           [0009]    Louis Wong et al. disclose another dynamic-threshold approach which capacitively couples an n-channel mosfet&#39;s gate to its body. (See Louis Wong et al., A 1V CMOS Digital Circuits with Double-Gate Driven MOSFET, IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference, San Francisco, pp. 292-93, 1997.) Implementing this approach requires adding a gate-to-body coupling capacitor to every mosfet in a memory circuit. Unfortunately, conventional integrated-circuit capacitors are planar or horizontal capacitors that consume great amounts of surface area on an integrated-circuit memory, ultimately reducing its data capacity.  
           [0010]    The third dynamic-threshold approach, referred to as a synchronous-body bias, applies a voltage pulse to the body of a mosfet at the same time, that is, synchronous, with the application of a voltage to the gate, thereby reducing its effective threshold voltage. (See Kenichi Shimomuro et al., A 1V 46 ns 16 Mb SOI-DRAM with Body Control Technique, Digest of the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, San Francisco, pp. 68-69, 1997.) Unfortunately, implementing the circuitry to apply the synchronous voltage pulse requires adding extra conductors to carry the voltage pulses and possibly even built-in timing circuits to memory circuits. Thus, like the previous approach, this approach also consumes significant surface area and reduces data capacity.  
           [0011]    Accordingly, there is a need to develop space-and-power efficient implementations of the dynamic threshold concept and thus enable the practical use of lower power-supply voltages.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    To address these and other needs, embodiments of the present invention provide a space-saving structure and fabrication method for achieving gate-to-body capacitive coupling in n- and p-channel field-effect transistors. Specifically, one embodiment of the invention uses at least one vertical, that is, non-horizontal, capacitive structure, to achieve the gate-to-body capacitive coupling. In contrast to conventional horizontal capacitor structures, the vertical structure requires much less surface area. Moreover, for further space savings, another embodiment not only uses a lateral semiconductive surface of the transistor as a conductive plate of the gate-to-body coupling capacitor, but also places the other conductive plate in a normally empty isolation region between neighboring transistors. The space-saving gate-to-body capacitive coupling of the invention yields practical transistors with superior switching rates at low-operating voltages, ultimately enabling practical half-volt inverters, buffers, sense amplifiers, memory circuits, etc.  
           [0013]    Another aspect of the invention concerns a method for making a field-effect transistor having gate-to-body capacitive coupling. One embodiment entails forming an NMOS or PMOS device island and then growing dielectric sidewalls on two opposing sidewalls of the NMOS or PMOS device island. Afterward, the method forms conductive sidewalls on the dielectric sidewalls. This method yields two vertical gate-to-body coupling capacitors, one on each of the two opposing sidewalls of the device island. In other embodiments, the method isolates the device island from an underlying substrate to form a silicon-on-insulator structure and forms self-aligned source and drain regions.  
           [0014]    Still other aspects of the invention include circuits for half-volt inverters, voltage-sense amplifiers, and memories. Each incorporates a field-effect transistor having vertical gate-to-body capacitive coupling and thus offers not only space savings but also superior switching rate at low voltages. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an integrated-circuit assembly for complementary field-effect transistors having gate-to-body capacitive coupling;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1B is a top view of the FIG. 1A assembly;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1C is a front view of the FIG. 1A assembly;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram showing an equivalent circuit for a portion of the FIG. 1A assembly.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an integrated-circuit assembly after formation of an n-well;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. 2 assembly after formation of NMOS and PMOS device islands;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. 3 assembly after isolating the device islands from underlying substrate;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. 4 assembly after formation of vertical sidewall capacitors on the NMOS and PMOS device islands;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. 5 assembly after formation of metal gate layers;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the FIG. 6 assembly after definition of metal gate members;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the FIG. 7 assembly after formation of the source and drain regions;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an inverter circuit incorporating the integrated-circuit structures of FIGS.  1 A- 1 D and  8 ; and  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a memory circuit incorporating the inverter circuit of FIG. 9 as part of a voltage-sense amplifier. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]    The following detailed description, which references and incorporates FIGS.  1 - 10 , describes and illustrates specific embodiments of the invention. These embodiments, offered not to limit but only to exemplify and teach the invention, are shown and described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Thus, where appropriate to avoid obscuring the invention, the description may omit certain information known to those of skill in the art.  
         [0029]    More specifically, this description includes four sections, a definition section that defines certain terms used throughout the description and three sections actually describing the invention. The first section describes a preferred embodiment of new structures for n-and p-type dynamic threshold transistors. The second section describes a preferred method of making these structures, and the third section describes several integrated-circuit applications for complementary dynamic threshold transistors.  
       Definitions  
       [0030]    The description includes many terms with meanings derived from their usage in the art or from their use within the context of the description. As a further aid, the following term definitions are presented.  
         [0031]    The term “substrate,” as used herein, encompasses semiconductor wafers as well as structures having one or more insulative, semi-insulative, conductive, or semiconductive layers and materials. Thus, for example, the term embraces not only the silicon-on-insulator structure of this preferred embodiment, but also silicon-on-sapphire and other advanced structures. “Horizontal,” as used herein, refers to a direction substantially parallel to a supporting surface of the substrate, regardless of substrate orientation. “Vertical,” as used herein, generally refers to any direction that is not horizontal.  
         [0032]    Preferred Structure for Complementary Dynamic Threshold Transistors  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 1A, 1B, and  1 C respectively show perspective, top, and side views of a preferred integrated-circuit assembly  10  comprising complementary n- and p-type dynamic threshold transistors  14 N and  14 P. Both transistors feature gate-to-body capacitive coupling implemented through transistor sidewall capacitors  26   b  and  26   c  (highlighted in FIG. 1C.) In the preferred embodiment, the capacitance of each sidewall capacitor is approximately equal to the transistor gate capacitance.  
         [0034]    More specifically, assembly  10  includes a substrate  12  having two stacked, or superimposed, layers: a p-doped silicon layer  12   a  and a silicon dioxide insulative layer  12   b . Supported on substrate  12  are respective NMOS and PMOS dynamic threshold transistors  14 N and  14 P. The transistors are separated on substrate  12  by isolation region  15 , best illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C. Transistor  14 N, which differs from transistor  14 P only in terms of semiconductor doping, includes three layers of semiconductive material. The first layer, a p-type semiconductive body (or bulk)  16 , contacts substrate  12 , specifically insulative layer  12   b . Atop p-type body  16  is a second layer  18  of lightly doped, p-type semiconductive material (P−), and atop layer  18  is a third layer  20  of heavily doped n-type semiconductive material (N+). Layer  20  has two regions  20   d  and  20   s , which respectively serve as drain and source regions of transistor  14 N. The drain and source regions are also shown in the top view of FIG. 1B.  
         [0035]    Transistor  14 N also includes an insulative saddle structure  22  atop layer  20 . Saddle structure  22 , shown best in the side view of FIG. 1C, has a middle region  22   a  that connects insulative sidewall regions  22   b  and  22   c . Middle region (or section)  22   a  contacts a region of layer  20 , the channel region, between drain and source regions  20   d . And insulative sidewall regions  22   b  and  22   c  contact opposing lateral semiconductive surfaces of layers  16 ,  18 , and  20 . Middle region  22   a  functions as a gate insulator. In the preferred embodiment, insulative saddle structure  22  consists essentially of silicon dioxide or another electrical insulator.  
         [0036]    Atop insulative saddle structure  22  is a conductive saddle structure  24 , preferably formed of polysilicon. FIG. 1C shows that, like insulative saddle structure  22 , conductive saddle structure  24  has a conductive middle region  24   a  connecting conductive sidewalls  24   b  and  24   c . Conductive middle region  24   a , which forms a gate region  24   a  of transistor  14 , contacts middle region  22   a  of insulative saddle structure  22 . Conductive sidewalls  24   b  and  24   c  contact respective insulative sidewalls  22   b  and  22   c  which space the conductive sidewalls from adjacent lateral surfaces of semiconductive layers  16 ,  18  and  20 .  
         [0037]    Conductive sidewalls  24   b  and  24   c , together with corresponding insulative sidewalls  22   b  and  22   c  and the opposing lateral semiconductive surfaces of layers  16 ,  18 , and  20  form respective twin vertical sidewall capacitors  26   b  and  26   c . (In geometric terms, the vertical sidewalls define respective planes that intersect or are non-parallel to the supporting surface of substrate  12 .) In the preferred embodiment, the sidewalls are substantially perpendicular, or normal, to the supporting surface. The conductive sidewalls  24   b  and  24   c  and semiconductive lateral surfaces of layers  16 ,  18 , and  20  serve not only as parallel conductive plates of the twin vertical sidewall capacitors  26   b  and  26   c , but also as conductive leads, connecting the vertical sidewall capacitors to gate region  24   a , and thereby capacitively coupling gate region  24   a  of transistor  14 N to its body layer  16 . (Gate region  24   a , gate insulator  22   a , and semiconductive layer  20  also provide a gate capacitance.)  
         [0038]    One advantage of the vertical sidewall construction of capacitor  26  is its use of space in the normally unused isolation region  15  between transistors  14 N and  14 P. Sidewall conductors  24   b  and  24   c  and respective insulative, or dielectric, layers  22   b  and  22   c  extend outwardly, or widthwise, from the lateral surfaces of the transistors into the isolation region. This arrangement, which essentially affixes or attaches the vertical capacitors to the sides of the transistors, consumes a minimum of substrate surface area. In contrast, a conventional integrated-circuit capacitor lies horizontally with its two conductive plates essentially parallel to a supporting substrate, and thus typically occupies a greater surface area to provide similar capacitance. Moreover, instead of requiring parallel plates separate from other features of the integrated circuit assembly, the present invention uses the existing lateral semiconductive surfaces of the transistor itself as a plate, providing not only further space savings but also fabrication savings.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 1D shows an equivalent circuit for the dynamic threshold transistors  14 N and  14 P. Notably, the gate-to-body coupling capacitance is shown as twin capacitors  26   b  and  26   c  to denote the preferred space-saving structure of the present invention. In operation, capacitors  26   b  and  26   c  appear as short circuits to a switching signal level at gate  24   a  and as open circuits when the signal reaches its steady-state level. As short circuits, the capacitors enable concurrent forward biasing of both the gate  24   a  (the frontgate) and the backgate formed by layers  18  and  16 . Concurrent forward biasing of the frontgate and backgate effectively lowers threshold voltage relative to input voltage and thus accelerates activation of the transistor. In a sense, concurrent forward biasing forms the conductive channel region from front and back directions, thereby amplifying or accelerating the effect of a given gate voltage. Thus, in keeping with the dynamic threshold concept, the transistors  14 N and  14 P provide effectively lower thresholds during switching episodes and higher thresholds, based on conventional doping techniques, during steady state.  
       The Preferred Method of Making  
     Complementary Dynamic Threshold Transistors  
       [0040]    FIGS.  2 - 8  show a number of preferred integrated-circuit assemblies, which taken collectively and sequentially, illustrate a preferred method of making an integrated-circuit assembly substantially similar to space-saving assembly  10 . Although the preferred method conforms to 0.2-micron CMOS technology, the exemplary dimensions are scalable, both upwardly and downwardly.  
         [0041]    The first steps of the method form the integrated-circuit assembly of FIG. 2. These steps, which entail defining NMOS and PMOS device regions in a semiconductor substrate, start with a positively doped silicon substrate or wafer  30 , form a thermal screen layer  32 , preferably a 10-nanometer-thick layer of silicon dioxide on substrate  30 , and then implant a p-type dopant into substrate  30  to a depth of about 0.4 microns. The implantation defines a retrograde doping profile, with dopant concentrations increasing with distance from the upper substrate surface. Next, the method defines an N-well device region  36  on p-doped silicon substrate  30  by applying photo resist mask  34  on thermal screen layer  32  and etching according to conventional techniques. The method then forms an n-well  38  within device region  36  by implanting an n-type dopant, again achieving a retrograde doping profile.  
         [0042]    The next steps yield the integrated-circuit assembly of FIG. 3, which includes N-channel and P-channel device islands  47  and  48 . Specifically, the method strips away mask  34  and screen layer  32 , exposing n-well  38 . The method next forms a gate isolation (or insulation) layer  40 , preferably consisting of silicon dioxide. Subsequently, the method forms a heavily positively doped p-type (P+) gate region  42 P and heavily positively doped n-type (N+) gate region  42 N on respective regions  40 N and  40 P of gate isolation layer  40 . Forming the gate regions entails forming a 0.1-micron-thick polysilicon layer over both the device regions, masking and doping gate region  42 P and then masking and doping gate region  42 N. A cap layer  44  of silicon nitride, approximately 0.1 micron thick, is then formed on the gate regions  42 N and  42 P, to protect them during subsequent steps.  
         [0043]    Finally, to form device islands  47  and  48 , which have respective pairs of opposing vertical sidewalls, the method applies an etch-resistant mask (not shown) defining the perimeter of the islands and then etches through cap layer  44 , polysilicon gate regions  42 P and  42 N, gate oxide layer  40 , and into substrate  30  approximately as deep as n-well  38 . As FIG. 3 shows, device islands  47  and  48  are separated by an isolation region  49  (similar to region  15  shown in FIG. 1C.)  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 4 shows the results of the next steps which isolate NMOS and PMOS device islands  47  and  48  from underlying substrate  30  with an insulative layer  50  of silicon dioxide. Although there are a variety of techniques for achieving this isolation, the inventors prefer the Noble method disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/745,708 entitled “Silicon-on-Insulator Islands and Methods for Their Formation” filed on Nov. 12, 1996. Another method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,230 entitled Technique for Producing Small Islands of Silicon on Insulator” issued Nov. 11, 1997 to Leonard Forbes. Both the application and the patent are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. A by-product of the Noble method is the formation of silicon nitride sidewalls  51  on device islands  47  and  48 .  
         [0045]    As shown in FIG. 5, dielectric (or insulative) sidewalls  52   a - 52   d  are then formed on the device islands. In the preferred embodiment, forming the dielectric sidewalls entails first removing silicon nitride sidewalls  51  from the device islands and then growing silicon dioxide or other dielectric material on the sidewalls of the device islands. The preferred thickness of the dielectric sidewalls is the same as gate insulation layer  40 , which is 5-10 nanometers.  
         [0046]    After forming the dielectric sidewalls, the method forms respective conductive vertical sidewalls  54   a - 54   d  on corresponding dielectric sidewalls  52   a - 52   d  In the preferred method, making the vertical sidewalls entails depositing doped polysilicon and directionally etching the doped polysilicon to remove it from undesired areas, thereby leaving it only on the sidewalls of device islands  47  and  48 .  
         [0047]    The regions between and around device islands  47  and  48  are then filled with a preferentially etchable material  56 , such as intrinsic polysilicon, and subsequently planarized through chemical-mechanical planarization. After planarization, the method removes cap layer  44  to expose polysilicon gates  42 P and  42 N and top inside edges of vertical conductive sidewalls  54   a - 54   d . In other words, removing cap layer  44  also entails removing the top most portion of the dielectric sidewalls to allow contact with the inside edges of the conductive sidewalls. Next, FIG. 6 shows that the method fills the resulting depressions over gates  42 N and  42 P with a refractory metal, preferably tungsten, to form contacts  58   a  and  58   b.    
         [0048]    Following removal of excess refractory metal, the method defines drain and source region pairs  60   a - 60   b  and  60   c - 60   d  for respective device islands  47  and  48 . This entails masking and etching through metal layer  58 , through polysilicon gate regions  42 P and  42 N, through underlying gate insulation layer  40 , and intrinsic polysilicon  56 . After this, the method removes, preferably by gallic acid wet etching, remaining intrinsic polysilicon. The resulting structure is shown in the perspective of FIG. 7, which for sake of clarity omits intrinsic polysilicon  56 .  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 8 shows the results of forming source and drain region pairs  60   a - 60   b  and  60   c - 60   d  in self-alignment with respective gates  42 P and  42 N, according to conventional procedures. Although not shown, further processing would entail conventional passivation and formation of contact holes and wiring to form a full integrated circuit, such as one or more of those described below.  
       Preferred Circuits For Dynamic Threshold Transistors  
       [0050]    The structure and/or method described above may be used to implement the circuits shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows a logic inverter or buffer circuit  70  useful for pass-gate transistor logic or complementary pass-gate transistor logic, as an output driver or driver for an integrated circuit. Circuit  70  comprises respective input and output nodes  72  and  73  and voltage supply nodes  74  and  75 . In the preferred embodiment, voltage supply node  74  provides a nominal voltage of one-half volt, and voltage supply node  75  provides a nominal voltage of zero volts.  
         [0051]    Circuit  70  also includes respective NMOS and PMOS dynamic threshold transistors  76  and  78 , which are preferably consistent with the space-saving structures and operating principles of integrated-circuit assembly  10  described above with the aid of FIGS.  1 A- 1 D. Transistor  76  includes a field-effect transistor  76   a  having a gate, drain, source, and body, and twin gate-to-body coupling capacitors  76   b  and  76   c . Similarly, transistor  78  comprises a field-effect transistor  78   a  and twin gate-to-body coupling capacitors  78   b  and  78   c . The gates of transistors  76   a  and  78   a  are connected together to form input  72 ; and their drains are connected together to form output  73 . The source of transistor  76   a  connects to supply node  74  and the source of transistor  78   a  connects to supply node  75 .  
         [0052]    In operation, circuit  70  performs as an inverter, providing a nominal half-volt output at output  73  in response to a nominal zero-volt input at input  72  and a zero-volt output in response to a half-volt input. However, gate-to-body coupling capacitors  76   b - 76   c  and  78   b - 78   c  play a significant role during input-voltage transitions.  
         [0053]    More precisely, during positive input transitions (that is, from low to high), these capacitors approximate short circuits between the gates and bodies of transistors  76   a  and  78   a , thereby forward biasing the backgate of (n-channel) transistor  78   a , and reverse biasing the backgate of (p-channel) transistor  76   a . Forward biasing the backgate of transistor  78   a  effectively lowers its threshold voltage relative the input voltage, and thus accelerates activation, or turn on, of transistor  78   a . Consequently, the voltage at output  73  begins decreasing more rapidly toward the voltage at supply node  75 , zero volts in the preferred embodiment. After switching, the gate-to-body capacitance discharges, thereby reverse biasing the backgate and restoring the threshold voltage. Similarly, a negative voltage transition at input  72  temporarily forward biases the backgate of (p-channel) transistor  76   a  and thus accelerates its activation and the associated increase in the output voltage toward the voltage at upper supply node  74 , one-half volt in the preferred embodiment.  
         [0054]    Estimates are that the gate-to-body capacitive coupling in circuit  70  will yield peak switching currents about five times larger than conventional low-voltage circuits lacking gate-to-body capacitive coupling. Ultimately, such peak-current increases translate into a three-fold increase in switching rates. Moreover, unlike previous efforts that directly shorted the gate and body to permanently forward bias the backgate junctions and thus drew current continuously, circuit  70  only forward biases the backgate junctions temporarily.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 10 illustrates a dynamic-random-access-memory (DRAM) circuit  80  suitable for one-half-volt (or lower) power-supply voltages. In addition to conventional DRAM features, such as a memory array  82  which comprises a number of memory cells  83 , a column address decoder  84 , and a row address decoder  85 , and associated bit lines  86  and word lines  87 , DRAM circuit  80  includes a novel voltage-sense-amplifier circuit  90  coupled in conventional fashion to bit lines  86 .  
         [0056]    Voltage-sense-amplifier circuit  90  includes two cross-coupled inverters  70 A and  70 B, each similar to circuit  70  shown in FIG. 9. Thus, the backgates or bodies of each inverter transistor are capacitively coupled to its input, thereby providing the circuit  80  with the peak switching current and switching rates advantages of circuit  70 .  
         [0057]    More specifically, circuit  90  further includes a bit-line node  92  coupled to a first bit-line  86   a , and a bit-line node  94  coupled to a second bit line  86   b , and two power supply nodes  96  and  97 . Bit-line node  92  connects to input node  72 A of circuit  70 A, and output node  73 B of circuit  70 B. Bit-line node  94  connects to input node  72 B of circuit  70 B, and output node  73 A of circuit  70 A. Power supply nodes  96  and  97 , which preferably provide respective nominal voltages of one-half and zero volts, are coupled to corresponding supply nodes  74 A- 74 B and  75 A- 75 B. With the exception of its dynamic thresholding which provides superior switching current and switching rate at low operating voltages, circuit  90  operates according to well-known and understood principles to sense data stored in memory cells  83 .  
       Conclusions  
       [0058]    The present invention provides a space-saving structure and fabrication method for achieving gate-to-body capacitive coupling in n- and p-channel transistors. Instead of using common horizontal capacitor structures to achieve the capacitive coupling, the invention uses vertical, that is, non-horizontal, capacitors, which require less substrate area. Moreover, the invention places these vertical capacitors in the isolation region between adjacent transistors. And, for even greater savings, the invention uses a lateral semiconductive surface (or sidewall) of the transistor as a conductive plate of the gate-to-body coupling capacitor. Furthermore, transistors incorporating gate-to-body capacitive coupling provide superior switching speed with low-operating voltages, ultimately enabling practical half-volt inverters, buffers, sense amplifiers, memory circuits, etc.  
         [0059]    The embodiments described above are intended only to illustrate and teach one or more ways of implementing or practicing the present invention, not to restrict its breadth or scope. The actual scope of the invention, which includes all ways of implementing or practicing the invention, is defined only by the following claims and their equivalents.