A driver circuit comprising a differential operational amplifier configured to receive an input voltage and produce a differential output voltage based at least in part on the input voltage. The differential output voltage can be produced for a receiver circuit that is communicatively coupled to the driver circuit.

The amplitude voltage of a signal input to a level shifter can be increased and then output by the level shifter circuit. Specifically, the amplitude voltage of the signal input to the level shifter can be increased to be output. This decreases the amplitude voltage of a circuit (a shift register circuit, a decoder circuit, or the like) which outputs the signal input to the level shifter. Consequently, power consumption of the circuit can be reduced. Alternatively, a voltage applied to a transistor included in the circuit can be reduced. This can suppress degradation of the transistor or damage to the transistor.

A multi-voltage, high voltage I/O buffer in low-voltage technology is disclosed. In one embodiment, the I/O buffer includes a logic circuit configured to generate a signal based on a data signal and a first control signal. A level shifter is coupled between a supply voltage terminal and a ground terminal, and the level shifter is generates first and second output signals in first and second voltage domains, respectively, at first and second nodes, respectively, based on the signal from the logic circuit. A control circuit is coupled between the second node and a third node. The control circuit transmits the second output signal to the third node when the first control signal is asserted, and the control circuit couples the third node to the ground terminal when the first control signal is not asserted.

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes: a memory cell array and a signal propagation circuit disposed on a propagation path of a signal or a control signal, wherein the signal propagation circuit includes: a first inverted signal output circuit; a second inverted signal output circuit including an input terminal connected to an output terminal of the first inverted signal output circuit; a third inverted signal output circuit including an input terminal connected to output terminals of the first inverted signal output circuit and the second inverted signal output circuit; a fourth inverted signal output circuit including an input terminal connected to an output terminal of the third inverted signal output circuit; and a fifth inverted signal output circuit including an input terminal connected to output terminals of the third inverted signal output circuit and the fourth inverted signal output circuit.

A level shifter may include: a discharge circuit configured to receive an input signal on the basis of a first power supply voltage, and discharge an internal node on the basis of the input signal; a charge supply circuit configured to supply charge to an output node from which an output signal is outputted, on the basis of a second power supply voltage; and a voltage adjustment circuit including a first MOS transistor coupled between the internal node and the output node, and configured to adjust the voltage of the output node on the basis of a bias voltage applied to the first MOS transistor, and stop the operation of adjusting the voltage of the output node on the basis of the bias voltage, when the levels of the first and second power supply voltages are equal to each other.

A multi-voltage, high voltage I/O buffer in low-voltage technology is disclosed. In one embodiment, the I/O buffer includes a logic circuit configured to generate a signal based on a data signal and a first control signal. A level shifter is coupled between a supply voltage terminal and a ground terminal, and the level shifter is generates first and second output signals in first and second voltage domains, respectively, at first and second nodes, respectively, based on the signal from the logic circuit. A control circuit is coupled between the second node and a third node. The control circuit transmits the second output signal to the third node when the first control signal is asserted, and the control circuit couples the third node to the ground terminal when the first control signal is not asserted.

Level shifters, memory systems, and level shifting methods are described. According to one arrangement, a level shifter includes an input configured to receive an input signal in a first voltage domain, an output configured to output an output signal from the level shifter in a second voltage domain different than the first voltage domain, a plurality of pull-down devices, and wherein one of the pull-down devices is coupled with the input and the output, a plurality of cross-coupled devices coupled with the pull-down devices and configured to provide transitions in the output signal as a result of transitions in the input signal, a plurality of current limiting devices coupled with the cross-coupled devices and configured to limit a flow of current from a source to the cross-coupled devices, and a plurality of dynamic devices configured to selectively provide charging current from the source to the cross-coupled devices.

In one embodiment, a transistor device includes a metal layer, a first dielectric layer comprising Hafnium and Oxygen on the metal layer, a channel layer comprising Tungsten and Selenium above the dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer comprising Hafnium and Oxygen on the channel layer, a source region comprising metal on a first end of the channel layer, a drain region comprising metal on a second end of the channel layer opposite the first end, and a metal contact on the second dielectric layer between the source regions and the drain region. In some embodiments, the transistor device may be included in a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) logic circuit in the back-end of an integrated circuit device, such as a processor or system-on-chip (SoC).

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to a sampling circuit, such as a sampling circuit for a low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) serializer/deserializer (SerDes) system. One example sampling circuit generally includes a latching circuit and a plurality of pass-gate transistors. The latching circuit includes differential inputs, differential outputs, a clocked input circuit coupled to the differential inputs, a first cross-coupled circuit coupled to the clocked input circuit, and a second cross-coupled circuit coupled to the first cross-coupled circuit, wherein the first and second cross-coupled circuits are coupled to the differential outputs of the latching circuit. Each pass-gate transistor is coupled between one of the differential inputs of the latching circuit and a corresponding differential input of the sampling circuit.

An integrated circuit device includes: an integrated circuit module; a first field-effect transistor coupled between the integrated circuit module and a first reference voltage, and controlled by a first controlled signal; and a second field-effect transistor coupled between the integrated circuit module and the first reference voltage; wherein the second field-effect transistor is a complementary field-effect transistor of the first field-effect transistor, and the first field-effect transistor and the second field-effect transistor are configured to generate a second reference voltage for the integrated circuit module according to the first control signal.