1. High Speed, High Stability and Low Power Sensing Amplifier for MTJ/CMOS Hybrid Logic Circuits.
- Author
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Weisheng Zhao, Chappert, Claude, Javerliac, Virgile, and Nozière, Jean-Pierre
- Subjects
TUNNELS ,LOGIC circuits ,MICROELECTRONICS ,MAGNETIC properties ,TRANSISTORS ,ELECTRONIC circuits - Abstract
Densely embedding Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJ) in CMOS logic circuits is considered as one potentially powerful solution to bring non volatility, instant on/off and low standby power in today's programmable logic circuits, in order to overcome major drawbacks while preserving high operation speed. A critical issue in this process is the integration of MTJ electric signal to CMOS electronics, in particular the requirement of "zero" read/write error for logic applications. In this paper, we propose a new sense amplifier circuit, called Pre-Charge Sense Amplifier (PCSA). This circuit, comprising 7 CMOS transistors at minimum size, is able to read the magnetic configuration of a pair of magnetic tunnel junctions with opposite configurations at high speed (about 200 ps), with very low power and error rate compared to previously proposed solutions. Simulations using a ST Microelectronics 90 nm design kit and a compact model of MTJ demonstrate the performances of PCSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
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