Patent ID: 8399845

Claim:
A method comprising: providing a first one or more bias signals onto one or more of a bitline, a wordline, and a voltage source coupled to a transistor, wherein each of the bitline and the voltage source is coupled to a different one of a source terminal and a drain terminal of the transistor, and wherein the wordline is coupled to a gate terminal of the transistor, thereby either positively or negatively charging a floating body potential of the transistor so as to either lower or increase a threshold voltage of the transistor relative to a nominal threshold voltage of the transistor; providing a second one or more bias signals onto one or more of the bitline, the wordline, and the voltage source so as to detect a change in the lowered or increased threshold voltage; and detecting one or more charged particles incident upon the transistor, based at least in part on the detected change in the lowered or increased threshold voltage.