They are called "charge pumping circuits" where you use switches to dump charge onto a capacitor to get above the power supply voltage.
In some cases, you can use charge pumps, to drive another charge pump.
Example: 1V power, can get you to a around a 1.8V on a capacitor. Then you use that to power another pump that get you up to around 3V or so.
Take a look in the IEEE JSSC - there should be some stuff there on the topic.
Here is a good introduction:
http://www.eecg.utoronto.ca/~kphang/ece1371/chargepumps.pdfthat should get you started in the right direction.
Jerry