CA2243375C - High voltage generating circuit for volatile semiconductor memories - Google Patents

Abstract

A high voltage generating circuit which provides a constant V PP output without any threshold voltage drop and which does not suffer from latch-up problems is described. Thus a voltage boosting circuit which provides for a boosted voltage V PP at an output node, from a supply voltage V DD, includes a precharge transistor element responsive to a precharge clock signal for transferring the supply voltage V
DD to a boost node for precharging the boost node to the full supply voltage V DD. The circuit further includes a capacitive element connected between the boost node and a pump node, the capacitive element pumping the boost node in response to a pump voltage signal applied to the pump node; and a switching element connected between the boost node and the output node, for transferring charge from the capacitive element to the output node to provide the boosted voltage V PP. In particular the precharge transistor element is an PMOS transistor. Furthermore in order to prevent latch-up of the PMOS devices, a switching circuit is provided to maintain the substrate at the highest voltage in the circuit.

Description

High Voltage Generating Circuit for Volatile Semiconductor Memories This invention relates to a high voltage generating circuit for use in random access memories.
Background of the Invention Semiconductor devices such as Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMS), synchronous DRAMs (SDRAMs) or other types of volatile memories generally utilize CMOS
semiconductor devices. Power for these devices is provided by a standard voltage supply having a positive voltage VDD relative to a ground voltage Vss. As is well known, data bits having either logic high state or logic low state are stored in memory cell locations. The high logic level stored in a memory cell generally corresponds to a voltage equivalent to VDD
while the low logic level corresponds to the ground voltage Vss.
Specifically in dynamic memories, the data bit is stored in a capacitor, which is charged or discharged through a memory cell access transistor. Typically, n-channel Metal-Oxide semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (NMOS Transistor) devices have been used in the memory cell array since they take up a smaller layout area, and are thus better suited for higher integration. Using an NMOS access transistor however, requires providing a voltage higher than VDD to the gate of the memory cell access transistor in order to fully turn it on and avoid any threshold voltage drop. The requirement for generation of a voltage supply, which is higher than Vpp thus, arises. Various circuits have been devised for generating such high voltages for use in volatile memories. Generally, this boosted supply voltage level is referred to symbolically as Vpp. This naming convention traces its origins to nonvolatile memories such as EEPROMs and Flash EPROMs wherein programming voltages are generated for cell programming.
Although some similarities exist, the generation of VPP in volatile memories has different design goals and approaches than generating VPP in nonvolatile memories.
A conventional prior art circuit for generating a VPP voltage level from VDD
is described with reference to figure 1. The circuit illustrated in figure 1 employs a conventional r ng oscillator (not shown) to generate a VDD level oscillating signal OSC PUMP, the output of which is connected to an NMOS capacitor C1 for functioning as a charge pump. A
second NMOS device T2, with its source-drain path connected between VDD and the charge pump capacitor C 1 at node 1, is used for pre-charging the capacitor C 1.
Furthermore, a main driving P-channel Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect transistor (PMOS transistor) pass transistor T3 is connected between the charge pump capacitor C 1 at node 1 and a VPP
output.
In operation, the ring oscillator 1 generates an oscillating signal OSC PUMP
with a constant period Tosc and an amplitude of the source supply voltage VDD which is provided to one plate of the charge pumping capacitor C 1. The other plate of C 1 is cyclically precharged by transistor T2 which in turn also receives a VDD level oscillating signal OSC
PRECHARGE at its gate.
When the oscillating signal OSC PUMP is at the ground voltage VSS, the voltage across the C1 is VDD-V~, where V~ is a threshold voltage loss of the NMOS transistor T2. When the oscillator voltage changes from Vss to VDD, the voltage at the node 1 will also rise from a voltage VDD-V~ to a voltage of approximately 2VDD-V~, due to the capacitive coupling effect of capacitor C1. The voltage is transferred to the output VPP when the PMOS pass transistor T:3 is turned on. The voltage VPP may be charged into a load capacitor CL (not shown). The oscillation is continued to maintain the VPP potential. Optionally, a level detector and regulator may be included to pause the pumping action during periods requiring little power.
A disadvantage of this NMOS precharge, PMOS pass generating circuit is that there is always a threshold voltage V~ loss at a boost node 1. Thus, when VDO is low, for example during power-up, or at less than 2V~, the circuit will not work.
A cross-coupled charge pump circuit using a two-phase charge pump shown in figure 2 has been implemented as an improvement over the circuit of figure 1. This circuit is capable of compensating for the threshold voltage loss at the boost node due to the bootstrap action of the precharge devices. However, this circuit still has the disadvantage of having a threshold voltage loss in the diode-type NMOS devices T4 at the output stage.
An alternate to the cross-coupled charge pump configuration of figure 2 was proposed in United States Patent No. 5,196,996. The circuit shown in figure 3 comprises a clamping circuit, a charge pump circuit and a charge transfer circuit. The clamping circuit is provided with an NMOS capacitor C4 having one of its plates connected to a first precharging oscillating signal OSC PRECHARGE. A diode-type NMOS device TS is also provided having its gate and drain coupled to a source supply voltage VDD
and its source connected to the gate of an NMOS transistor T6 and the other plate of capacitor C4.
The charge pump circuit is provided with an NMOS capacitor CS having one of its plates coupled to a second main pump oscillating signal OSC PUMP. The other plate of capacitor CS and the drain of the NMOS transistor T6 are coupled via a PMOS
pass transistor T7 to the output Vpp.
Since the gate of the precharging transistor T6 is cyclically boosted above VDD by the prechaxging capacitor C4, a full VDD is provided to the drain of transistor T6, thus overcoming the threshold voltage loss in the output stage. However, the circuit has the disadvantage in that VDD must be at least greater than twice the threshold voltage, i.e. VDD
>_ 2V~. Thus, although this circuit solves the problem of the V~ loss in generating VPP, it still has the problem that for low VDD, i.e. close to 2V~, the circuit will not work.
Essentially, if an NMOS precharge circuit is used the low VDD problem will always be present. The reason why many designs choose to live with this problem is that by using NMOS precharge the greater problem of device latch-up is avoided.
It would therefore be advantageous to develop a high voltage generating circuit which provides the constant VPp output without any threshold voltage drop and which is capable of operating efficiently at low values of VDD.
Summary of the Invention This invention seeks to provide a high voltage generating circuit for use in random access memories in which the output, VPP, makes efficient use of a source supply voltage VDD, is able to maintain its efficiency at low values of VoD and does not suffer from the dangers of latch-up.
In accordance with this invention there is provided a voltage boosting circuit for providing a boosted voltage VPP at an output node, from a supply voltage VoD, the circuit comprising:
a precharge transistor element responsive to a precharge clock signal for transferring the supply voltage VDD to a boost node for precharging the boost node to the full supply voltage VDDi a capacitive element connected between the boost node and a pump node, the capacitive element pumping the boost node in response to a pump voltage signal applied to the pump node; and a switching element connected between the boost node and the output node, for transferring charge from the capacitive element to the output node to provide the boosted voltage VPP.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention the precharge transistor element is an PMOS transistor.
An advantage of the present invention is that no threshold voltage drop is experienced in the precharge section of an embodiment of the present invention as would be experienced in conventional NMOS precharge or NMOS pass type pump circuits since a PMOS precharge system is employed. Another advantage of the present invention is the elimination of the latch-up problem conventionally experienced in PMOS
precharge systems. A further advantage of the present invention is significant power savings are achieved through the use of a self biasing current comparator which monitors the value of the output voltage Vpp.
Brief Description of the Drawings A better understanding of the invention will be obtained by reference to the detailed description below in conjunction with the following drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a circuit diagram of a single phase conventional NMOS precharge, PMOS pass VPP voltage generating circuit;
Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of a two-phase conventional NMOS precharge, NMOS
pass VPP voltage generating circuit using diode connected NMOS pass transistors;
Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of a conventional VPP voltage generating circuit for eliminating threshold voltage loss in the output;
Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of a VPP voltage generating circuit in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 5(a) and (b) are waveform diagrams of representative components in figure 4; and Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of a comparator shown in Figure 4.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Referring to figure 4, an embodiment of a voltage boost circuit in accordance with the present invention is shown generally by numeral 40. The voltage boost circuit includes a voltage pump section 42, an initial charge circuit 48 and a substrate biasing section 43, which in turn includes a substrate switching section 44 and a voltage comparator circuit 46.
The voltage boost circuit 40 also includes a power-up pre-conditioning device 50. In addition, the voltage pump section 42 consists of a first and second identical charge pump circuits 54 and 56, respectively.
The voltage boost circuit 40 is provided with an external power supply having a source supply voltage VDD 58. The circuit 40 is controlled by signals that include: a first and second oscillator pre-charge signals OSC PRE1 60 and OSC PRE2 62, respectively; a charge pump signal OSC PUMP1 64 and OSC PUMP2 66, respectively; and first and second charge transfer signals OSC TRANS 1 68 and OSC TRANS2 70, respectively.
These signals control the generation of the VPP voltage 72 in a manner to be described below.
Considering firstly, the first charge pump circuit 54 (the second charge pump circuit 56 is identical) which includes a precharge PMOS transistor P 1 having its source connected to VDD and its drain connected to a charge pumping capacitor C1 at a boost node 74. The charge pumping capacitor C 1 is an NMOS device with its source and drain connected together at a pump node 64 which in turn is fed by the first charge pump signal OSC PUMP1 64. The gate 76 of the pre-charge transistor P1 is fed by the first precharge oscillator clock signal OSC PRE1 60. A PMOS pass transistor P2 provides a controllable charge transfer from the boost node 74 of capacitor C 1 to the output node VPP
72. The gate 78 of the PMOS transistor P2 is controlled by the first charge transfer signal OSC TRANS 1 68.
A problem with PMOS transistors is the potential for latch-up. The PMOS
devices reside in an n-well, which must be biased to a positive voltage level in order to avoid forward biasing the p-n regions formed by the source/drain implants (or diffusions), and the channel region located in the n-type material of the n-well. Such a forward bias would constitute the first step to causing CMOS latch-up. Since a PMOS device will have its body (or more commonly referred to as substrate) connected to the output VPP
to ensure that the n-well is at the highest potential available, clearly, when VDD is low, VPP is even lower and this forward biasing problem becomes a significant threat.
The PMOS transistors P1 and P2 are formed in n-wells as is well known to persons skilled in the art. The n-wells are connected to the biasing node which is held at a voltage VPP_SUB 80. The region underneath the gate oxide where the channel is formed consists of the n-type material of the n-well. Traditionally, well contacts have loosely been referred to as substrate contacts in the art. In fact, n-wells act as a localized substrate for the PMOS
devices. For this reason, the voltage biasing the well is referred to as VPP
SUB, (local) substrate connection for Vpp.
It should be noted that by using PMOS transistors for the precharge transistors P1 and P1' which fully turn on when Vss is applied to their gates, there is no threshold voltage V~ loss during the precharging of the pump capacitor C1. Since the voltage at the gate 76 of PMOS P1 is at ground level Vss, the PMOS device P1 is on.
In a PMOS device as previously mentioned, the n-well or local substrate must be connected to the most positive supply voltage in order to avoid forward biasing the PN
junction formed between the p-type source/drain and the n-well. Thus, it may be seen that if the voltage VPP_SUB is less than VDD forward biasing of the aforementioned junction and eventual latch-up of the respective PMOS devices will occur, i.e. a large current will flow from VDD to VPP SUB through the device that will eventually cause damage to the device. Thus, during power-up of the device and throughout the rest of other operation conditions, whenever VDD and consequently VPP is low, it is necessary to establish a system whereby the forward biasing of the PN junction and hence latch-up of the PMOS
transistors is avoided.
The substrate voltage switch circuit 44 includes a pair of PMOS transistors P3 and P4 with their drains connected together at node 84 and the output taken from this node to the VPP SUB node 80. The respective source terminals 86 and 88 of the transistors P3 and P4 are connected to VDD and VPP, respectively. The substrate of each of these transistors is also connected to VPP SUB in order to avoid undesired latch-up of these devices. The respective gates 90 and 92 of transistors P3 and P4 are connected to complementary switching signals Voo _ H and VPp _ H , respectively.
The complementary switching signals VoD _ H and VPP _ H are derived from the output 94 of a voltage comparator 95 which has VDD connected to its inverting input 96 and VPP connected to its non-inverting input 98. A VDD level inverter 100 is provided at the output of the voltage comparator and inputs to the gate of transistor P4 as the VpP _ H signal. A further VPP level inverter 102 is provided at the output of inverter 100 and inputs to the gate of transistor P3 as the VDD _ H signal.
The operation of providing the optimum VPP SUB voltage to the VPP driving transistors P1 and P1' will now be described. In order to ensure that VPP SUB, i.e. the well potential of the PMOS transistors is always at the most positive potential, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in figure 4, the n-well contacts of the VPP generator, which are connected to the voltage VPP_SUB are selectively switched either to VDD or VPP by the substrate voltage switch circuit 44 according to whichever is more positive at the time.
When VDD>Vpp, the output of the comparator 95 is low; this is passed through the level inverter 100 to set VPp _ H high and thus turning off transistor P4. As a result, transistor P3 is turned on, pulling VPP SUB to VDD. When Vpp>VDD, the output of the comparator 95 is high, driving the output of the level inverter 100 VpP _ H
low, therefore turning on transistor P4 and connecting VPP_SUB to VPs. The level inverter 102 is provided with a VPP supply voltage in order to assure that the transistor P3 is fully turned off by applying VPP to its gate 90. Without this precaution, if only a VDD
level is provided to node 90 when node 92 is low and VPP is higher than VpD, leakage current will flow from node 84 to VDD, thereby greatly reducing the efficiency of the pump.
A second capacitive element, namely, a PMOS transistor PS is connected as a MOS
capacitor between VDD and VPP_SUB. The transistor PS is used to charge VPP_SUB
when VDD is very low, i.e. VDD<V~, by coupling the charge between VDD and VPP
SUB.
During this period, neither P3 nor P4 will turn on. Device PS also acts as a reservoir capacitor once VPP reaches its regulated level by damping sudden glitches in the VPP line.

Furthermore, an NMOS transistor N 1 has gate-drain terminals connected to the VDD line and its source connected to Vpp. This transistor acts as a diode and helps to charge VPP during power-up by providing a direct and instantaneous current path between VDD and Vpp Whlle Vpp<VDD-V~.
Referring now to figures Sa and Sb, the actual VPP generating operation of the circuit of figure 4 is described. The circuit operates in two phases, i.e. a precharge phase and a boost phase. Because the capacitor C1 in figure 4 is used to charge up VPP in the boost phase, two boost circuits 54 and 56 are provided, each of which are driven by signals that are 180° out of phase. Thus, while the capacitor C 1 in the first boost circuit is being precharged, the capacitor C1' is charging up VPP. This results in a higher efficiency circuit.
Of further special importance are the levels of the oscillating signals. Both OSC PUMP1 and OSC PUMP2 are VDD level oscillating signals. However, both OSC PRE1 and OCS TRANS1 as well as OSC PRE2 and OSC TRANS2 are all VPP
level oscillating signals. The reason for the increased voltage level required for these oscillating signals is to ensure that when the boost nodes 74 and 74' are at their high voltage values, the precharge transistors P1 and P1' are fully turned off.
Only a VPP level signal at the gate of these respective precharge transistors will shut them off completely. A
VoD level at their gates will allow leakage current to flow between the boost nodes and VDD, resulting in significant power drain and a decrease in the pumping efficiency. The generation of the boosted level signals OSC PRE1, OCS TRANS1, OSC PRE2 and OSC TRANS2 can be accomplished through the use of conventional level shift circuits as described in US patent 5,406,523 also assigned to the subject assignee.
Figure Sa illustrates the sections of precharge and boosting for the two pumps. The alternating effect of having the output supplied with pumped charge every half oscillating cycle greatly increases the efficiency of the overall VPP generating circuit.
Figure Sb illustrates the relative states of the VoD _ H and VPp _ H signals and the resulting VPP output.
Referring to figure 6, an embodiment of the voltage comparator 95, shown schematically in figure 4, is described. The comparator 95 consists of two symmetrical circuits, corresponding to the inverting input 96 and the non-inverting input 98, respectively. The core of the comparator consists of transistors P 13, N 3 and P 14, N4.
Transistors P13 and P14 are PMOS devices, whereas transistors N3 and N 4 are NMOS
devices. The transistor P13 is connected in series with the transistor N3 and the transistor P14 is connected in series with the transistor N4. The input voltage VDD is applied to the source of P3 via a PMOS transistor P11, having its drain connected to the source of P13 and its source connected to VDD. The input VPP 98 is applied directly to the source of PMOS transistor P 14. The gates of transistors P 13, N3 and P 14, N4 are connected together at node 110, i.e. VBIAS. Transistors N2 and N6 are connected in the series path between P 13, N3 and P 14, N4 respectively to provide protection against hot electron effects. The drains of transistors P 14 and N6 are connected together at node 112 providing an output signal VCOMP. This output signal VCOMP is passed through a pair of series connected inverters 114 and 116 to provide an output signal VPP UP 118. The output signal VPP UP is fed back to the gate of the PMOS transistor P11 and the gate of an NMOS transistor N1 having its source and drain connected to the source and gate of transistor N3, respectively.
The circuit of figure 6, in operation, exhibits two significant features, namely, a quick set-up initialization at very low VDD and a no current drain or power loss for values of VpP greater than VDD~
Because of the symmetry between the two parts of the circuit and the mutual connection of the four gates of devices P13, N3, P14, N4, the voltage VCOMP is one half the voltage VDD when Voo and VPP are equal. That is, the currents IP3 and IP4 through transistors P13 and P14, respectively, are equal. When VPP is less than VDD, the current IP4 is less than the current IP3 and, therefore, the current IN4 is greater than the current IP4, resulting in more current flowing to ground, thus driving VCOMP low. It may be seen that the current through the transistors N3 and N4 are equal since their gates are connected together and because of the symmetry between the circuits. When VCOMP is low, VPP_UP is low, driving transistors P11 on and N1 off, thus causing VDD to supply the current for the VPP generator.
On the other hand, when VPP is greater than VDD, the current IP4 is greater than the current Ip3, therefore, IP4 is also greater than IN4. This drives VCOMP high.
When VCOMP is high, the voltage of VPP UP is also high. When applied to the gate of transistor P11, VPP UP turns transistor P11 off. Since transistor P11 is off, there is no current flowing in the series branch made up of P11, P13, N2, and N3.
Furthermore, when P11 is off, N1 is on and since this is an NMOS device with its drain connected to VBIAS
and its source connected to ground, it drives VBIAS to ground. Since VBIAS is also applied to the gate of N4, this turns off transistor N4. By turning off N4, there is now no current flowing in the series branch made up of P14, N6 and N4. Therefore, when VPP is sufficiently high, there is no biasing current drawn from VPP or VDD. It may thus be seen that this provides a power saving feature for the high voltage generating circuit.
In order to provide quick initialization of the circuit at low VDD, the transistor P12 has its source connected to VDD, its gate connected to Vpp and its drain connected to VBIAS. On power-up when VDD rises from zero to Vpp, the voltage VPP is almost zero, thus the transistor P12 is on and VBIAS is then set equal to VDD. The voltage VCOMP
will go low because the transistor N4 is on and thus, VPP UP is also driven low. Thus transistor P 12 initializes all the key voltages in the comparator circuit in a stable manner on power-up.
Furthermore, the substrate (n-well connection) of PMOS transistor P14 needs only be connected to VPP since P14 is maintained in an off state as long as VPP is less than VDD~
As a result, the latch-up threat is not significant. Since the drain of a PMOS
transistor P!$
is connected to VCOMP which should not be grater than Vpp. As a result there is little risk of latch-up and no need to connect the local substrate contact to VPP_SUB.
As has been illustrated in an embodiment of the present invention, several advantages over the prior art are accomplished with simple and robust solutions.
Specifically, the latch-up problem experienced in conventional PMOS precharge circuits has been addressed. No threshold voltage drop experienced in conventional NMOS
precharge or NMOS pass type pump circuits exists since a PMOS precharge system is employed. Furthermore, power savings are achieved through the use of a self biasing current comparator which monitors the value of the output voltage Vpp.

While the invention has been described in connection with a specific embodiment thereof and in a specific use, various modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
The terms and expressions which have been employed in the specification are used as terms of description and not of limitations, there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions to exclude any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims to the invention.

Claims (17)

1. A Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) boosted voltage supply circuit for providing a boosted supply voltage at an output node, the boosted supply voltage derived from a supply voltage, said circuit comprising:
a) a precharge transistor element responsive to a precharge clock signal for transferring said supply voltage to a first node for precharging said first node to said supply voltage, said precharge transistor having its local substrate connected to a biasing node;
b) a capacitive element connected between said first node and a second node, said capacitive element pumping said first node in response to a pump voltage signal applied to said second node;
c) a switching element connected between said first node and said output node, for transferring charge from said capacitive element to said output node to provide said boosted supply voltage; and d) a biasing circuit for maintaining said biasing node at a higher one of said supply voltage and said boosted supply voltage.

2. The circuit as defined in claim 1, said precharge transistor element being a p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (PMOS
transistor).

3. The circuit as defined in claim 1, said switching element being a PMOS
transistor.

4. The circuit as defined in claim 3, said switching element transistor being responsive to a transfer signal.

5. The circuit as defined in claim 1, said biasing circuit including a switching circuit responsive to a switching signal for selectively connecting said higher one of said supply voltage and said boosted supply voltage to said biasing node.

6. The circuit as defined in claim 4, including a voltage comparator means for generating said switching signal.

7. The circuit as defined in claim 1, including a second capacitive element connected between said biasing node and said supply voltage for coupling charge between said supply voltage and said biasing node.

8. The circuit as defined in claim 1, including a diode element connected between said supply voltage and said output node, for directly charging said output node when said output node is at a voltage that is less than said supply voltage.

9. The circuit as defined in claim 8, said diode element being an n-channel metal-oxide semiconductor filed-effect transistor (NMOS transistor), said NMOS
transistor having its gate and drain terminals connected to said supply voltage and its source terminal connected to said output node.

10. The circuit as defined in claim 1, said precharge signal being a boosted supply voltage level oscillating signal.

11. The circuit as defined in claim 1, said pump voltage signal being a supply voltage level oscillating signal.

12. The circuit as defined in claim 11, said transfer signal being a boosted supply voltage level oscillating signal.

13. The circuit as defined in claim 5, said voltage comparator means comprising:
a) a first output node for outputting said switching signal;
b) a first current path defined between a first input node and a ground node, said first input node for coupling said supply voltage thereto;
c) a second current path defined between a second input node and said ground node, said second input node for coupling said boosted supply voltage thereto;
d) a first driver element connected to said first input node in said first current path;
e) a second driver element connected between said second input node and said first output node in said second current path;
f) a first load element connected in said first current path; and g) a second load element connected in said second current path between said first output node and said ground node; said first and second load element being coupled such that currents through said first and second load elements and said first driver elements are equal.

14. The circuit as defined in claim 13, said voltage comparator further comprising a power saving means for reducing current in said first and second current paths when said boosted supply voltage exceeds said supply voltage.

15. The circuit as defined in claim 13, said voltage comparator including initialization means for initializing voltages in said comparator circuit upon power-up.

16. A Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) boosted voltage supply circuit for providing a boosted supply voltage at an output node, the boosted supply voltage derived from a supply voltage, said circuit comprising:
a) a PMOS precharge transistor element responsive to a precharge clock signal for transferring said supply voltage to a first node for precharging said first node to said supply voltage;
b) a capacitive element connected between said first node and a second node, said capacitive element pumping said first node in response to a pump voltage signal applied to said second node;
c) a PMOS transistor switching element connected between said first node and said output node, for transferring charge from said capacitive element to said output node to provide said boosted supply voltage; and d) said PMOS transistor elements having their substrates connected to a biasing node and including a substrate switching circuit responsive to a switching signal for selectively connecting said substrate biasing node to a higher one of said supply voltage and said boosted supply voltage.

17. A method of providing a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) with a boosted supply voltage at an output node, the boosted supply voltage derived from a supply voltage, said method comprising the steps of:
a) precharging a first node to said supply voltage with a precharge transistor element responsive to a precharge clock signal for transferring said supply voltage to said first node, said precharge transistor element having its local substrate connected to a biasing node;
b) pumping said first node with a capacitive element connected between said first node and a second node in response to a pump voltage signal applied to said second node;

c) transferring charge from said capacitive element to said output node to provide said boosted supply voltage with a switching element connected between said first node and said output node; and d) maintaining said biasing node at a higher one of said supply voltage and said boosted supply voltage.