Patent ID: 7579642

Claim:
A structure comprising: a varactor comprising: (a) a plate region and a body region of a semiconductor body, the body region being of a first conductivity type, the plate region being of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, the plate and body regions meeting each other to form a p-n junction; (b) a plate electrode and a body electrode respectively connected to the plate and body regions, the plate electrode being at a plate-to-body bias voltage relative to the body electrode; (c) a dielectric layer situated over the semiconductor body and contacting the body region; and (d) a gate electrode situated over the dielectric layer at least where the dielectric layer contacts material of the body region, the gate electrode being at a gate-to-body bias voltage relative to the body electrode, the gate-to-body voltage being maintained approximately constant at a non-zero value as the plate-to-body voltage is varied; and componentry for maintaining the gate-to-body voltage approximately constant at the non-zero value.