Method and apparatus for a low write current MRAM having a write magnet
AssigneeMacronix International Co., Ltd.
InventorsChiaHua Ho, Yi-Chou Chen, Ruichen Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An invention is provided for a low write current MRAM. Each MRAM cell includes a word line and a bit line. A magnetic device is disposed at the intersection of the word line and the bit line. Disposed at either end of the magnetic device is a writing magnet. The pair of writing magnets switches a magnetic alignment of the magnetic device during a write operation. In aspect, the pair of writing magnets and the magnetic device can be aligned along a long axis of the memory cell, which generally is not aligned with either the word line or the bit line.
Claims20
A magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cell, comprising:
- a word line;
- a bit line perpendicular to the word line;
- a magnetic device disposed at an intersection of the word line and the bit line, the magnetic device having a first end and a second end;
- and
- a pair of writing magnets, one of the pair of writing magnets disposed opposite the first end of the magnetic device and separated from the first end of the magnetic device by an insulator, another of the pair of writing magnets disposed opposite the second end of the magnetic device and separated from the second end of the magnetic device by an insulator, wherein the pair of writing magnets switches a magnetic alignment of the magnetic device during a write operation.
A method for performing a write operation to a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cell, comprising the operations of:
- supplying a current to a word line and a bit line of the MRAM cell;
- generating a magnetic field using the currents in the word line and the bit line, wherein the magnetic field is applied to a pair of writing magnets disposed at either end of a magnetic device;
- and
- generating a field strength using the writing magnets, the field strength capable of switching a magnetic alignment of the magnetic device.
A magnetic random access memory (MRAM) array, comprising:
- a plurality word lines and bit lines, each bit line being perpendicular to the plurality of word lines;
- a plurality of magnetic devices, each magnetic device disposed at an intersection of a word line and a bit line, and each magnetic device having a first end and a second end;
- and
- a plurality of writing magnets, each writing magnet disposed opposite one of the first and second ends of a magnetic device and separated from the first or second end of the magnetic device by an insulator, wherein writing magnets associated with a particular magnetic device switch a magnetic alignment of the particular magnetic device during a write operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.