Patent ID: 7808303

Claim:
A booster circuit comprising: boosting cells each having a first-conductivity type first well region on a substrate, a second-conductivity type second well region in the first well region, and at least one first switching element in either or both of the first well region and the second well region; a first boosting cell row including N stages (N≧1) of the boosting cells; a second boosting cell row including M stages (M≧1) of the boosting cells; and a first analog comparison circuit for outputting one having the larger absolute value of voltages of an output potential of the boosting cell in the i-th stage (1≦i≦N) of the first boosting cell row and an output potential of the boosting cell in the i-th stage (1≦i≦M) of the second boosting cell row, wherein an output potential of the first analog comparison circuit is applied to the second well region of the at least one first switching element included in at least one of the boosting cells in a k-th stage (1≦k≦i).