A semiconductor device includes a dielectric layer, a semiconductor layer provided above the dielectric layer, a gate dielectric layer provided above the semiconductor layer, a gate electrode provided above the gate dielectric layer, a source region and a drain region provided in the semiconductor layer, a body region other than the source region and the drain region in the semiconductor layer, and a body contact region that divides the source region in a plurality of areas and joins to the body region, wherein the body contact region is formed of a compound of a semiconductor of the semiconductor layer and a metal.

A fuse device including a transistor having a source, drain, and gate. The gate includes a first and second gate contact. A current may be run from the first gate contact to the second gate contact to heat the gate. The current through the gate indirectly heats the channel region beneath the gate, causing localized annealing of the channel region. The heated gate causes dopants to diffuse from the source and drain into the channel region, permanently changing the properties of the transistor material and programming the fuse device. The fuse device functions as a transistor in an unprogrammed state, and acts as a shunt in a programmed state, caused by the shorting of the source and drain of the transistor during programming.

A circuit for converting an input signal at a first voltage level to an output signal at a second voltage level uses only thin oxide transistors. The circuit includes a first unit operating at a first power supply voltage and receiving the input signal, a second unit operating at a second power supply voltage, and a third unit coupling the first unit to the second unit. The third unit enables generation of the output signal. Use of an extra fabrication mask for thick oxide transistors is avoided by using only thin oxide transistors.

A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is provided that has separate array and peripheral power busing to isolate array noise from peripheral circuits such as delay lock loops during row activations and read/write memory operations. A switch connects the array power bus to another separate power bus for a limited period of time during a DRAM refresh cycle to provide additional current to the DRAM arrays. The switch disconnects the array power bus from the other power bus preferably before the end of the refresh cycle.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer provided on a semiconductor substrate with an insulating film interposed therebetween. A gate electrode is provided on the semiconductor layer with a gate insulating film interposed therebetween, and a pair of source/drain regions are formed in the semiconductor layer so as to hold a body region under the gate electrode therebetween. A control section supplies voltages to the source/drain regions. The control section supplies the body region in an OFF state and ON state with a first voltage and a second voltage different from the first voltage, respectively. The second voltage is set such that a potential of the body region in the OFF state is substantially the same as a potential of the body region in the ON state.