Appeal No. 1996-3444
Application No. 08/245,785
can be used as a nonvolatile non-destructive-readout
semiconductor memory element for information storage. More
particularly, Appellant indicates at page 7 of the
specification that the diode switching device is formed with a
ferroelectric material film disposed above a rectifying
junction. An electric field generated by the polarization of
the ferroelectric material acts to modify the forward-bias
effective turn-on voltage of the rectifying junction.
Claim 1 is illustrative of the invention and reads as
follows:
1. A semiconductor apparatus comprising:
(a) a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity
type, the substrate having a device surface;
(b) a patterned insulating layer formed on the device
surface having at least one region of access to the
semiconductor substrate;
(c) a patterned electrically conductive material in
contact with the semiconductor substrate in an access
region, the electrically conductive material in combination
with the semiconductor substrate forming a rectifying
junction with a conduction characteristic;
(d) a pair of electrodes connected to opposite sides of
the rectifying junction, with a first electrode being
connected to the semicoductor substrate and a second
electrode being connected to the patterned electrically
conductive material; and
2
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