FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of integrated circuits, and more particularly, to antifuse elements and memory arrays.

BACKGROUND

An integrated circuit (IC) may include many components, e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, diodes, formed on a semiconductor substrate. In addition, ICs may often include one or more types of memory arrays formed by multiple memory cells, such as a CMOS memory array including multiple memory cells, an antifuse memory array including multiple antifuse elements, or a fuse memory array including multiple fuse elements. In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse element may be an electrical safety device that operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit. Normally, a fuse element may include a copper wire, strip, or interconnect, which may melt or break down when too much current flows through it, thereby interrupting the current. A fuse element with a copper wire may melt at a high current, and may create a void space in the fuse element after the copper wire has been melted, which may post security risks. In addition, a fuse memory array including multiple fuse elements with copper wire may occupy a large area.

