Importance

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Abstract

A semiconductor memory device has a ring oscillator that is configured so that its period in the time before reaching a raised voltage is made short and further so that its period after reaching the raised voltage is made long, and a voltage boosting circuit that raises the voltage on a word line of memory cells, based on a boosted potential that is output from the ring oscillator. The ring oscillator performs a plurality of voltage boosting operations until the boosted potential of the word line of the memory cells reaches the voltage that is required for writing of data thereinto, and makes the period of the ring oscillator output ROC short while performing the plurality of boosting operations, and makes the period of the ring oscillator output ROC long after a prescribed raised voltage level is reached, thereby reducing the amount of AC current that flows in the ring oscillator itself.

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First Claim