Patent ID: 7443722

Claim:
A semiconductor device, comprising: a bulk semiconductor substrate; a plurality of storage elements formed on said bulk semiconductor substrate and each including a thyristor formed on said bulk semiconductor substrate and including a first region of a first conductor type, a second region of a second conduction type opposite to the first conduction type, a third region of the first conduction type and a fourth region of the second conduction type jointed together in order, a gate electrode formed on the third region, and a field effect transistor formed on said semiconductor substrate on which said thyristor is formed and connected to said fourth region of said thyristor; and a bit line connected to the cathode of said field effect transistor; a first voltage being applied, upon turning off operation of a selected one of said storage elements, to the first region side of said thyristor of the selected storage element while a second voltage higher than the first voltage is applied to the cathode side of said field effect transistor of the selected storage element; a voltage lower than the first voltage being applied to a word line formed for said field effect transistor of a non-selected one of the storage elements connected to the bit line connected to the selected storage element.