Samsung patents circuit design for detecting laser signals in chips
Samsung has been granted a patent for a specific electronic circuit used to detect laser signals within semiconductor devices. The design uses a latch circuit made of inverters, which are basic building blocks that flip electrical signals, to process the data. It includes specific types of transistors, known as dummy and normal transistors, arranged in a particular way to handle the signal.
In the filing’s own words
A laser detecting circuit is provided. The laser detecting circuit includes a latch circuit with a first inverter configured to invert a first output signal at a first node to generate a second output signal at a second node, and a second inverter configured to generate the first output signal based on the second output signal. The second inverter includes a plurality of PMOS transistors connected in series between a first source voltage and the first node, and a plurality of NMOS transistors. A gate of each of the plurality of PMOS transistors is connected to the second node, and a drain of each of the plurality of NMOS transistors is connected to the first node. The plurality of NMOS transistors includes dummy NMOS transistors and normal NMOS transistors.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A laser detecting circuit comprising: a latch circuit comprising a first inverter configured to invert a first output signal at a first node to generate a second output signal at a second node, and a second inverter configured to generate the first output signal based on the second output signal, wherein the second inverter comprises a plurality of NMOS transistors connected in series between a first source voltage and the first node, and a plurality of PMOS transistors, a gate of each of the plurality of NMOS transistors is connected to the second node, and a drain of each of the plurality of PMOS transistors is connected to the first node, and the plurality of PMOS transistors comprises dummy PMOS transistors and normal PMOS transistors.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
- Official title
- Laser detecting circuit and semiconductor apparatus including the same
- Patent number
- US12733505B2
- Application number
- 19028276
- Filed
- Jan 17, 2025
- Granted
- Sep 8, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 18
Classified under
H10W 42/405 Electricity & electronicsG01J 1/4257 Physics & computingG11C 29/12 Physics & computingH03K 19/00315 Electricity & electronicsMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.