Appeal No. 95-3675
Application No. 08/025,822
depend from independent claim 3 and not from claim 8 as recited
in the copy of the claims forming the appendix to the principal
brief.
The invention pertains to a semiconductor device which can
be employed as both a volatile and a nonvolatile memory. More
particularly, information is not erased from the memory cell even
after carrying out random-access reading. The invention is best
understood from an analysis of independent claim 3 together with
reference to Figure 1. Claim 3 is reproduced as follows:
3. A semiconductor memory cell formed on a substrate,
comprising:
storage means disposed on the substrate for storing electric
charge to memorize nonvolatile information;
injecting means for injecting electric charge into the
storage means;
supplying means for supplying electric charge to the
injecting means;
volatile control means operable to write volatile
information and to temporarily maintain the volatile information,
the volatile control means being interposed between the injecting
means and the supplying means for controlling flow of electric
charge from the supplying means to the injecting means according
to the volatile information temporarily written in the volatile
control means;
random-access potential setting means for setting a
potential of the volatile control means on a random access basis
to write volatile information into the volatile control means,
the random-access potential setting means including switching
means for effecting setting of the potential of the volatile
control means on a random access basis; and
nonvolatile control means for controlling the injection of
the electric charge from the injecting means to the storage means
2
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