Pulse programming techniques for voltage-controlled magnetoresistive tunnel junction (MTJ)
View Patent ↗A method of programming a voltage-controlled magnetoresistive tunnel junction (MTJ) includes applying a programming voltage pulse (Vp), reading the voltage-controlled MTJ, and determining if the voltage-controlled MTJ is programmed to a desired state and if not, changing the Vp and repeating the applying and reading steps until the voltage-controlled MTJ is programmed to the desired state.
1. A method of programming a voltage-controlled magnetoresistive tunnel junction (MTJ) comprising:
applying a programming voltage pulse (Vp) to a gate of a device coupled to one end of the voltage-controlled MTJ;
reading the voltage-controlled MTJ through the device;
determining if the voltage-controlled MTJ is programmed to a desired state and if not, augmenting the Vp by a small amount and repeating the applying and reading steps until the voltage-controlled MTJ is programmed to the desired state.
2. The method of programming of claim 1 , wherein the voltage-controlled MTJ is a perpendicular MTJ.
3. The method of programming of claim 1 , wherein the small amount is a predetermined value.
4. The method of programming of claim 1 , wherein the repeating the applying and reading steps are performed for a predetermined number of pulses.
5. The method of programming of claim 4 , further including reporting programming failure if the voltage-controlled MTJ is not programmed to the desired state within the predetermined number of pulses.
6. The method of programming of claim 1 , wherein the device is an access transistor and an opposite end of the voltage-controlled MTJ is coupled to Vdd volts.
7. The method of programming of claim 6 , wherein the access transistor is a PMOS or NMOS type of transistor.
8. The method of programming of claim 7 , wherein the access transistor is a bipolar transistor.