I/sup 2/L with polysilicon diode contact

A polysilicon diode is used instead of a Schottky diode in I/SUP 2/L/MTL to reduce the signal swing. The new method enables improvement of the power-delay product of a conventional I/SUP 2/L, which has heavily doped collectors, without detriment to process simplicity, while retaining high-packing density and compatibility with other bipolar circuits. Experiments demonstrate a factor of 2.5 to 3 improvement in propagation delay at a low-current level. However, high-current operation is restricted by decreased noise margin with increasing current level.