Booster circuit

The present invention pertains to a booster circuit. In particular, the present invention pertains to a charge-pump-type booster circuit used in power supply circuits, etc. The objective of the invention is to provide a booster circuit with reduced power consumption and switching noise. Booster circuit of the present invention has gate circuits an auxiliary control circuit . Each of gate circuits has charging/discharging circuit and auxiliary charging/discharging circuit used for charging/discharging capacitors . Under the control of auxiliary control circuit , said charging/discharging circuit can operate independently or operate together with auxiliary charging/discharging circuit . When the booster circuit is started, charging/discharging circuit and auxiliary charging/discharging circuit are operated together to increase the drivability of gate circuits . As a result, the charging time of capacitors in charge-pump circuits can be shortened. On the other hand, at steady state, charging/discharging circuit operates independently. As a result, the drivability of the gate circuits is reduced compared with that at the time when the booster circuit is started. Consequently, the loss in power consumption and noise can be reduced.