<12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 6,483,740 B2 Spitzer et al. (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 19, 2002 (54) ALL METAL GIANT MAGNETORESISTIVE 5,903,708 A 5/1999 Kano et al. ................. .. 388/32 MEMORY 22222222 1 222222 "1 ~~~~~~ 1222222 , , u e a . .. - - ' ...... .. 5 <75) Richard Sim» B@i1<@12i» C/W5); §’§?§’§3ZI $1 * 151588? EEQZT2 ,1. 323/o’3Z E‘ James Torok’ Shorevlew’ MN (US) 6,292,336 B1 9/2001 Horng et al. ........ .. 360/324.12 (73) Assignee: Integrated Magnetoelectronics QTHER PUBLIC ATIQNS Corporation, Berkeley, CA (US) Jacquelin K. Spong, et al., “Giant Magnetoresistive Spin ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Valve Bridge Sensor”, Mar. 1996, IEEE Transactions on patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Magnetics, VOL 32, N0- 2, PP- 366-371U_$_C_ 154(b) by 0 day5_ Mark Johnson, “TheAll-MetalSpin Transistor”, May 1994, IEEE Spectrum, pp. 47-51. 21 A L N _, 09 883 660 Mark Johnson, “Bipolar Spin Switch”, Apr. 16, 1996, Sci( ) pp ° / ’ ence, vol. 260, pp. 320-323. (22) Filed: Jun. 18, 2001 J.M. Daughton, “Magnetoresistive Memory Technology,” _ _ _ Jul. 28-Aug. 2, 1991, Int’Workshop on Science and Tech(65) Pnor Pubheatlon Data nology of Thin Films for the 21“ Century, vol. 216, pp. US 2002/0024842 A1 Feb. 28,2002 I1<6%-1616*‘; h 1 N L C M M d . . . anmut u eta ., “ ew ow urrent emory o es Related U_S_ Application Data with Giant Magneto—Resistance Materials,” Apr. 13, 1993, (60) Provisional application No. 60/217,338, filed on Jul. 11, Digests Oflmernanonal Magnetics C_O”fere:”Ce> 2 Page5~ 2000, and provisional application No. 60/217,781, filed on J .L. Brown, “1—Mb Memory Chip Using Giant MagnetoreJul- 11, 2000- sistive Memory Cells,” Sep. 1994, IEEE Transactions on (51) Int. Cl.7 .............................................. .. G11C 11/15 Components’ Packaging’ and Manufacturing Technology’ Part A, vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 373-379. (52) U.S. Cl. ...................................... .. 365/158; 365/173 Paul a_ Packan, “Pushing The Limiiso, Sap 24, 1999 (58) Fleld Of SE3I‘Ch ............................... .. 365/173, 158, Science Mag, VOL 285, pp_ 2079_2081_ 365/157’ 171 Lenssen, et al, “Expectations of MRAM in Comparison With _ Other Non—Volatile Memory Technologies”, Phillips (56) References Clted Research Laboratories,pp. 26-30. U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 Cited by examiner 3,972,786 A 8/1976 Ballard ................... .. 204/32 R _ _ 4,751,677 A 6/1988 Daughton et al. . 365/158 Primary EX¢lml"@r—TaH T-_NguY@H 473297476 A 5/1939 Dupuis ct a1_ 365/153 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Beyer Weaver & Thomas, 5,173,873 A 12/1992 Wu et al. ....... .. . 365/173 LLP. 5,565,236 A 10/1996 Gambino et al. 427/130 5,585,986 A 12/1996 Parkin ........... .. 360/113 (57) ABSTRACT 5,587,943 A 12/1996 Torok et al. 365/158 _ _ _ _ _ 576407343 A 6/1997 Gallagher ct a1_ 365/171 Amemory device is described which includes memory cells, 5,640,754 A 6/1997 Lazzari or al, _________ __ 29/603,14 access lines, and support electronics for facilitating access to 5,650,889 A 7/1997 Yamamoto et al. .... .. 360/97.01 information stored in the memory cells via the access lines. 5,650,953 A 7/ 1997 Gallagher ct a1~ 365/ 173 Both the memory cells and the support electronics comprise 5,652,445 A 7/1997 Johnson ~~~~~~~~~ ~~ 257/295 multi-layer thin film structures exhibiting giant magnetore5,654,566 A 8/1997 Johnson 257/295 Sisianw 5,661,449 A 8/1997 Araki et al. . 338/32 5,793,697 A 8/1998 Scheuerlein .. 365/230.07 _ _ 5,852,574 A * 12/1998 Naji ......................... .. 365/158 82 Claims, 19 Drawing Sheets
sense-digit selection matrix M
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