Robust Low-power Multi-terminal STT-MRAM

Abstract

Bi-directional write current for writing '1' and '0', and shared read and write current paths severely limit the design space of spin-transfer torque MRAMs (STT-MRAM). Failure mitigation techniques proposed in the literature may be insufficient for realizing the full potential of STT-MRAMs at scaled MTJ dimensions due to asymmetries in MTJ characteristics and in access transistor drive-ability. This paper shows how STT-MRAM based on multi-terminal structures can overcome some of the above design constraints, leading to robust low-power STT-MRAM suitable for on-chip cache applications. © 2013 IEEE.