RRAM reset of low resistive cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9928909-B1
Application number	US-201615347319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2016
Priority date	Nov 9, 2016
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A circuit having a Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) cell coupled between a supply voltage and a sense node; a first transistor coupled between the sense node and a source voltage; and a sub-circuit configured to have a sense voltage at the sense node be lower than a bias voltage at the gate of the first transistor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A circuit, comprising:
a Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) cell coupled between a supply voltage and a sense node;
a first transistor coupled between the sense node and a source voltage; and
a sub-circuit configured to set a sense voltage at the sense node to be lower than a bias voltage at a gate of the first transistor, wherein the sub-circuit comprises a second transistor having a polarity that is opposite that of the first transistor, and a gate of the second transistor is coupled to the sense node,
wherein the first transistor is an NMOS transistor, the second transistor is a PMOS transistor, the gate of the PMOS transistor is coupled to the drain of the NMOS transistor, and the source of the PMOS transistor is coupled to the gate of the NMOS transistor.

2. The circuit of claim 1 , where:
the sub-circuit comprises a first bias current source coupled between the supply voltage and the source of the PMOS transistor, and
the gate voltage of the PMOS transistor is lower than the source voltage of the PMOS transistor.

3. The circuit of claim 1 , further comprising:
a comparator having a first input coupled to the sense node and a second input coupled to a limit voltage, and configured to compare the sense voltage with the limit voltage,
wherein when the sense voltage becomes less than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is reset.

4. The circuit of claim 3 , wherein when the sense voltage becomes greater than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is set.

5. The circuit of claim 1 , further comprising:
a comparator having a first input coupled to a drain of the first transistor and a second input coupled to a limit voltage, and configured to compare the drain voltage with the limit voltage.

6. The circuit of claim 5 , wherein
when the drain voltage of the first transistor becomes greater than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is set, and
when the drain voltage of the first transistor becomes less than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is reset.

7. A circuit, comprising:
a Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) cell coupled between a supply voltage and a sense node;
a first transistor coupled between the sense node and a source voltage;
a sub-circuit configured to set a sense voltage at the sens node to be lower than a bias voltage at a gate of the first transistor, wherein the sub-circuit comprises a second transistor having a polarity that is opposite that of the first transistor, and a gate of the second transistor is coupled to the sense node;
a reference circuit configured to output a limit voltage; and
a comparator having a first input coupled to a gate of the first transistor and a second input coupled to the output of the reference circuit, and configured to compare the gate voltage with the limit voltage.

8. The circuit of claim 7 , wherein
when the gate voltage of the first transistor becomes less than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is reset, and
when the gate voltage of the first transistor becomes greater than the limit voltage, the RRAM cell is set.

9. The circuit of claim 8 , wherein the reference circuit comprises:
a third transistor coupled between the second input of the comparator and the source voltage, and having a same polarity as the second transistor;
a fourth transistor coupled between the source voltage and a resistor, having a gate coupled to the second input of the comparator, and having a same polarity as the first transistor;
the resistor coupled between the supply voltage and the fourth transistor,
wherein a resistor value of the resistor represents an upper limit of a resistance window between set and reset states of the RRAM cell.

10. The circuit of claim 9 , wherein the reference circuit further comprises:
a second bias current source coupled between the supply voltage and the third transistor.

11. The circuit of claim 9 , wherein:
the first and fourth transistors are NMOS transistors, and
the second and third transistors are PMOS transistors.

12. The circuit of claim 1 ,
wherein the sense voltage at the sense node is linked to a resistance of the RRAM cell.

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Loibl Ulrich

Classifications

• G11C13/0097 Primary

  Erasing, e.g. resetting, circuits or methods · CPC title

• G11C13/004

  Reading or sensing circuits or methods · CPC title

• G11C2013/0054

  Read is performed on a reference element, e.g. cell, and the reference sensed value is used to compare the sensed value of the selected cell · CPC title

• G11C13/0069

  Writing or programming circuits or methods · CPC title