A decoder in an integrated circuit memory device having: a positive section having a first input line; a negative section having a second input line; and an output line connected from both the positive section and the negative section to a voltage driver connected to a memory cell. The positive section and the negative section are controlled by a polarity control signal. When the polarity control signal indicates positive polarity, the positive section drives the output line according to signals received in the first input line; and when the polarity control signal indicates negative polarity, the negative section drives the output line according to signals received in the second input line.

A semiconductor memory may include at least one memory cell. The memory cell may include: a first electrode layer; a second electrode layer separated from the first electrode layer, wherein the first and second electrode layers are coupled to receive a voltage applied to the first and second electrode layers; and a self-selecting memory layer interposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer and configured to store data and operable to disconnect or connect a conducting path between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, to respond to the voltage applied to the first and second electrode layers, wherein the self-selecting memory layer includes an insulating material layer, a first dopant that creates a shallow trap providing a path for conductive carriers in the insulating material layer, and a second dopant that is movable in the insulating material layer according to a polarity of the voltage applied to the first and second electrode layers.

The present disclosure generally relates to the fabrication of and methods for creating a reversible tri-state memory device which provides both forward and reverse write and read drive to a bi-directional RRAM cell, thus allowing writing in the forward and reverse directions. The memory device, however, utilizes a single transistor “on pitch” which fits between two metal lines traversing the array tile.

In one embodiment, a method of performing an active polling operation can include: (i) detecting a self-timed operation that is to be executed on a serial memory device; (ii) determining if an active polling mode has been enabled; (iii) determining when the self-timed operation has completed execution on the serial memory device; and (iv) providing a completion indication external to the serial memory device when the self-timed operation has completed execution and the active polling mode is enabled.

A data-write device includes a write driver that causes a current to flow through a current path including an MTJ element or the other current path including the MTJ element in accordance with writing data to be written, thereby writing the write data into the MTJ element, a write completion detector which monitors the voltage at a first connection node or a second connection node in accordance with the write data after the writing of the write data into the MTJ element starts, detects the completion of writing of the write data based on the voltage at either node, and supplies a write completion signal indicating the completion of data write, and a write controller that terminates the writing of the write data into the MTJ element in response to the write completion signal supplied from the write completion detector.

Electrical switching technologies employ the otherwise undesirable line defect in crystalline materials to form conductive filaments. A switching cell includes a crystalline layer disposed between an active electrode and another electrode. The crystalline layer has at least one channel, such as a line defect, extending from one surface of the crystalline layer to the other surface. Upon application of a voltage on the two electrodes, the active electrode provides metal ions that can migrate from the active electrode to the other electrode along the line defect, thereby forming a conductive filament. The switching cell can precisely locate the conductive filament within the line defect and increase the device-to-device switching uniformity.

A memory device according to an embodiment includes first and second interconnects, memory cells, and a control circuit. In a first process, the control circuit applies a write voltage of a first direction to a memory cell coupled to selected first and second interconnects, and applies a write voltage of a second direction to a memory cell coupled to the selected first interconnect and a non-selected second interconnect. In second processes of first to m-th trial processes, the control circuit applies the write voltage of the second direction to the memory cell coupled to the selected first and second interconnects, and omits a write operation in which the memory cell coupled to the selected first interconnect and the non-selected second interconnect is targeted.

An apparatus is provided which comprises: a select line; a select transistor coupled to a resistive memory element and to the select line; a word-line coupled to a gate terminal of the select transistor; and a current mirror operable to be coupled to the select line during a first mode and to be de-coupled during a second mode.

A crossbar array apparatus suppressing deterioration of write precision due to a sneak current is provided. A synapse array apparatus includes a crossbar array configured by connecting resistance-variable type memory elements, a row selecting/driving circuit, a column selecting/driving circuit, and a writing unit performing a write operation to a selected resistance-variable type memory element. The writing unit measures the sneak current generated when applying a write voltage to a selected row line before applying the write voltage, and then the writing unit performs the write operation to the selected resistance-variable type memory element by applying a write voltage having a sum of the measured sneak current and a current generated for performing the write operation.

An estimation method for a variable resistance element including (i) a first electrode, (ii) a second electrode, and therebetween (iii) a variable resistance layer in which a local region is formed which has resistive status that reversibly changes according to an electric pulse applied between the first electrode and the second electrode, the estimation method including: obtaining, when changes are made to the resistive status of the local region, measurement values each indicating a resistance state after one of the changes; and determining, based on a distribution of the obtained measurement values, an estimated amount of a physical parameter regarding structural characteristics of the local region by a calculation.