Work

Toggle SOT-MRAM Architecture With Self-Terminating Write Operation

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Toggle spin-orbit torque (SOT)-driven magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) with perpendicular anisotropy has a simple material stack and is more robust than directional SOT-MRAM. However, a read-before-write operation is required to use the toggle SOT-MRAM for directional switching, which threatens to increase the write delay. To resolve these issues, we propose a high-speed memory architecture for toggle SOT-MRAM that includes a minimum-sized bit cell and a custom read-write driver. The proposed driver induces an analog self-terminating SOT current that functions via an analog feedback mechanism that can read and write the toggle SOT-MRAM bit cell within a single clock cycle. As the read and write operations are completed within 570 ps, this memory architecture provides the first viable solution for nonvolatile L3 cache.

Source: IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems

DOI: 10.1109/tvlsi.2024.3471528

Authors: Ebenezer C. Usih, Naimul Hassan, Alexander J. Edwards, Felipe Garcia-Sanchez, Pedram Khalili Amiri, Joseph S. Friedman

Institutions: The University of Texas at Dallas, Universidad de Salamanca, Northwestern University

Language: English

Topic: Magnetic properties of thin films

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: NSF-BSF: CNS Core: Small: Reliable and Zero-Power Timekeepers for Intermittently Powered Computing Devices via Stochastic Magnetic Tunnel Junctions, CAREER: Bottom-Up Localized Online Learning with Spintronic Neuromorphic Networks, PFI-RP: Partnership to develop next-generation memory chips for intelligent computing systems.