A 0.24-μm 2.0-V 1T1MTJ 16-kb nonvolatile magnetoresistance RAM with self-reference sensing scheme

Author

Jeong, Gitae ; Cho, Wooyoung ; Ahn, Sujin ; Jeong, Hongsik ; Koh, Gwanhyeob ; Hwang, Youngnam ; Kim, Kinam

Author_Institution

Memory Technol. Div., Samsung Electron. Co. Ltd., Yongin, South Korea

Volume

38

Issue

11

fYear

2003

Firstpage

1906

Lastpage

1910

Abstract

A nonvolatile 16-kb one-transistor one-magnetic-tunnel-junction (1T1MTJ) magnetoresistance random access memory with 0.24-μm design rules was developed by using a self-reference sensing scheme for reliable sensing margin. This self-reference sensing scheme was achieved by first storing a voltage of the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), and then after a time interval storing a reference voltage of the same MTJ (self-reference). The effects of variation in tunneling oxide thickness can be eliminated by this self-reference sensing scheme. As a result, reliable sensing of MRAM devices with MTJ resistance of 2.5-11 kΩ was achieved.

Keywords

integrated memory circuits; magnetic storage; magnetoresistive devices; random-access storage; tunnelling magnetoresistance; 0.24 micron; 130 ns; 16 kbit; 2.0 V; 2.5 to 11 kohm; CMOS technology; MRAM devices; magnetoresistance random access memory; nonvolatile magnetoresistance RAM; one-transistor one-magnetic tunnel junction memory cell; self-reference sensing scheme; tunneling oxide thickness variation; CMOS technology; Electric resistance; Magnetic tunneling; Magnetoresistance; Nonvolatile memory; Personal digital assistants; Random access memory; Read-write memory; Very large scale integration; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSSC.2003.818145

Filename

1240970