Abstract:
An integrated circuit may include at least one MOS transistor having a sigmoid response. The at least one MOS transistor may include a substrate, a source region, a drain region, a gate region, and insulating spacer regions on either side of the gate region. The substrate may include a first region situated under the gate region between the insulating spacer regions. At least one of the source and drain regions may be separated from the first region of the substrate by a second region of the substrate situated under an insulating spacer region, which may be of a same type of conductivity as the first region of the substrate.
Abstract:
A semiconductor device includes a substrate wafer and having a front face and a back face. A front hole is formed in the front face and a multilayer capacitor is formed in the front hole. A back hole is formed in the back face of the substrate wafer to expose at least a portion of the multilayer capacitor. A front electrical connection on the front face and a back electrical connection in the back hole are used to make electrical connection to first and second conductive plates of the multilayer capacitor which are separated by a dielectric layer. The front hole may have a cylindrical shape or an annular shape.
Abstract:
A method for manufacturing an image sensor, including the successive steps of: forming columns of a semiconductor material; forming one or several pixels at a first end of each of the columns; and deforming the structure so that the second ends of each of the columns come closer to each other or draw away from each other to form a surface in the shape of a polyhedral cap.
Abstract:
A method for manufacturing an integrated circuit, including the steps of forming first transistors on a first semiconductor layer; depositing a first insulating layer above the first semiconductor layer and the first transistors, and leveling the first insulating layer; depositing a conductive layer above the first insulating layer, and covering the conductive layer with a second insulating layer; bonding a semiconductor wafer to the second insulating layer; thinning the semiconductor wafer to obtain a second semiconductor layer; and forming second transistors on the second semiconductor layer.
Abstract:
An integrated circuit includes an integrated transformer of the balanced-to-unbalanced type with N channels, wherein N is greater than 2. The integrated transformer includes, on a substrate, N inductive circuits that are mutually inductively coupled, and respectively associated with N channels.
Abstract:
A device for protecting a set of N nodes from electrostatic discharges, wherein N is greater than or equal to three, includes a set of N units respectively possessing N first terminals respectively connected to the N nodes and N second terminals connected together to form a common terminal. Each unit includes at least one MOS transistor including a parasitic transistor connected between a pair of the N nodes and configured, in the presence of a current pulse between the pair of nodes, to operate, at least temporarily, in a hybrid mode including MOS-type operation in a sub-threshold mode and operation of the bipolar transistor.
Abstract:
An image sensor including a pixel array, each pixel including, in a substrate of a doped semiconductor material of a first conductivity type, a first doped region of a second conductivity type at the surface of the substrate; an insulating trench surrounding the first region; a second doped region of the first conductivity type, more heavily doped than the substrate, at the surface of the substrate and surrounding the trench; a third doped region of the second conductivity type, forming with the substrate a photodiode junction, extending in depth into the substrate under the first and second regions and being connected to the first region; and a fourth region, more lightly doped than the second and third regions, interposed between the second and third regions and in contact with the first region and/or with the third region.
Abstract:
A method for loading a program, contained in at least a first memory, into a second memory accessible by an execution unit, in which the program is in a cyphered form in the first memory, a circuit for controlling the access to the second memory is configured from program initialization data, instructions of the program, and at least initialization data being decyphered to be transferred into the second memory after configuration of the circuit.
Abstract:
An integrated circuit is embodied on a monolithic substrate and incorporates a tuning module of the direct sampling type that is able to receive satellite digital television analog signals composed of several channels, as well as several channel decoding digital modules connected at the output of the tuning module so as to deliver respectively simultaneously several streams of data packets corresponding to several different selected channels.
Abstract:
The sampling of a pixel signal by a sampling capacitor is effectuated by applying to the sampling capacitor a voltage equal to the corresponding pixel voltage minus the value of the gate-source voltage of a follower transistor biased with a predetermined constant bias current for a first predetermined duration so as to obtain for the sampling capacitor a final state of stable charge. The bias current is then interrupted. Lastly, the end of the sampling pulse occurs on completion of a second predetermined duration after the said interruption of the current.