Sony Corporation

Micron Technology Incorporated

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation

Makoto Kitagawa

Tomohito Tsushima

Wataru Otsuka

Takafumi Kunihiro

Jun Sumino

Tsunenori Shiimoto

Yogesh Luthra

Yotaro Mori

Haruhiko Terada

Kerry Dean Tedrow

Durai Vishak Nirmal Ramaswamy

Adam D Johnson

Hiroshi Yoshihara

Yoshiyuki Shibahara

Kentaro Ogata

Daniele Vimercati

Jahanshir J Javanifard

Mitsuo Soneda

Jun Okuno

Chieko Nakashima

Methods, systems, and devices for mitigating disturbance of digit lines at plate edges are described. Generally, the described techniques relate to disturbance mitigation for one or more memory cells of a sub-array associated with an unselected digit lines located at an edge of the sub-array by including an additional shunt configured to selectively couple the edge digit lines with an associated plate line. For example, a central digit line may be coupled with a respective one of a first set of selection components and a respective one of a second set of selection components, while an edge digit line may be coupled with a respective one of the first set of selection components, a respective one of the second set of selection components, as well as a respective one of a third set of selection components.

Mitigating disturbance of digit lines at plate edges

A method of performing a memory cell operation can include maintaining a plate voltage at a first access line of a memory cell during at least a first operation and a second operation of the memory cell. The method can further include charging a second access line to a first voltage greater than zero and greater than a threshold voltage of a selector device of the memory cell during the first operation on the memory cell. The method can further include, subsequent to the first operation, charging the second access line to a second voltage greater than the plate voltage plus the threshold voltage of the selector device to perform the second operation of the memory cell.

Memory cell sensing using two step word line enabling

Methods, systems, and devices for power gating in a memory device are described for using one or more memory cells as drivers for load circuits of a memory device. A group of memory cells of the memory device may represent memory cells that include a switching component and that omit a memory storage element. These memory cells may be coupled with respective plate lines that may be coupled with a voltage source having a first supply voltage. Each memory cell of the group may also be coupled with a respective digit line that may be coupled with the load circuits. Respective switching components of the group of memory cells may therefore act as drivers to apply the first supply voltage to one or more load circuits by coupling a digit line with a plate line having the first supply voltage.

Power gating in a memory device

Memory systems and memory programming methods are described. According to one arrangement, a memory system includes a plurality of memory cells individually configured to have a plurality of different memory states, a plurality of bitlines coupled with the memory cells, access circuitry coupled with the bitlines and configured to apply a plurality of program signals to the bitlines to program the memory cells between the different memory states, a controller configured to control the access circuitry to provide a first program signal and a second program signal to one of the bitlines coupled with one of the memory cells to program the one memory cell from a first of the memory states to a second of the memory states, wherein the second program signal has an increased electrical characteristic compared with the first program signal, and selection circuitry configure to couple another of the bitlines which is immediately adjacent to the one bitline to a node having a first voltage which is different than a second voltage of the one bitline during the provision of the first and second program signals to the one bitline.

Memory systems and memory programming methods

Ferroelectric memory arrays with reduced current leakage is described herein. A ferroelectric memory array may include a number of memory cells including capacitors with ferroelectric material. Providing an intermediary word line voltage to non-selected word lines that are not electrically coupled to a target memory cell during a sensing operation may reduce leakage current from an active data line electrically coupled to the target memory cell to the non-selected word lines. The intermediary word line voltage may be provided using an amplitude between an idle voltage of the data lines and zero volts. The intermediary word line voltage may be reduced closer to zero volts for performing a programming operation.

Off-state word line voltage control for fixed plate voltage operation

Methods, systems, and devices for sense timing coordination are described. In some systems, to sense the logic states of memory cells, a memory device may generate an activation signal and route the activation signal over a signal line (e.g., a dummy word line) located at a memory array level of the memory device to one or more sense amplifiers. Based on receiving the activation signal, a sense amplifier may latch and determine the logic state of a corresponding memory cell. A first sense amplifier may sense a state of a first memory cell at a first time and a second sense amplifier may sense a state of a second memory cell at a second time in response to the same activation signal due to a propagation delay of the activation signal routed over the signal line (e.g., and corresponding to a propagation delay for activating a word line).

Sense timing coordination for memory

Memory devices and memory operational methods are described. One example memory system includes a common conductor and a plurality of memory cells coupled with the common conductor. The memory system additionally includes access circuitry configured to provide different ones of the memory cells into one of a plurality of different memory states at a plurality of different moments in time between first and second moments in time. The access circuitry is further configured to maintain the common conductor at a voltage potential, which corresponds to the one memory state, between the first and second moments in time to provide the memory cells into the one memory state.

Memory devices and memory operational methods

A memory apparatus includes a memory cell disposed at an intersection of a first wiring line and a second wiring line, and including a variable resistor and a selector, the variable resistor having a resistance state that changes to a first resistance state and a second resistance state, and a drive circuit that writes data to the memory cell by changing the variable resistor from the first resistance state to the second resistance state, and erases the data stored in the memory cell by changing the variable resistor from the second resistance state to the first resistance state. When erasing the data, the drive circuit changing in a stepwise manner a voltage applied to the memory cell, and changing in a stepwise manner a current limit value that limits a magnitude of a current flowing through the memory cell.

Memory apparatus and method of controlling memory apparatus

In a memory unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a memory cell array is configured, when, of a plurality of memory cells, multiple first memory cells whose corresponding fourth wiring line and first wiring line are different from one another are simultaneously accessed, to allow for simultaneous access to the multiple first memory cells, without allowing for simultaneous access to memory cells corresponding to the fourth wiring line shared by the first memory cells.

Memory unit

A storage device according to the present disclosure includes: a plurality of first wiring lines extending in a first direction and including a plurality of first selection lines and a plurality of second selection lines; a plurality of second wiring lines extending in a second direction and including a plurality of third selection lines and a plurality of fourth selection lines, the second direction intersecting the first direction; a plurality of first memory cells; a first driver including a first selection line driver that drives the plurality of first selection lines on a basis of a first selection control signal and a second selection line driver that drives the plurality of second selection lines on a basis of the first selection control signal, the first and second selection line drivers being arranged side-by-side in the first direction; and a second driver including a third selection line driver that drives the plurality of third selection lines on a basis of a second selection control signal and a fourth selection line driver that drives the plurality of fourth selection lines on a basis of the second selection control signal, the third and fourth selection line drivers being arranged side-by-side in the second direction.

Storage device for storing data using a resistive random access storage element

Memory systems and memory programming methods are described. According to one aspect, a memory system includes program circuitry configured to provide a program signal to a memory cell to program the memory cell from a first memory state to a second memory state, detection circuitry configured to detect the memory cell changing from the first memory state to the second memory state during the provision of the program signal to the memory cell to program the memory cell, and wherein the program circuitry is configured to alter the program signal as a result of the detection and to provide the altered program signal to the memory cell to continue to program the memory cell from the first memory state to the second memory state.

Memory cells, memory systems and methods are described. In one embodiment, a memory cell includes electrodes and a memory element, and a first electrically conductive structure is formed within dielectric material providing the memory element in a low resistance state as a result of a first voltage of a first polarity being applied across the electrodes. Additionally, the first electrically conductive structure is removed from the dielectric material providing the memory element in a high resistance state as a result of a second voltage of a second polarity, which is opposite to the first polarity, being applied across the electrodes. A permanent and irreversible electrically conductive structure is formed within the dielectric material providing the memory element in the low resistance state as a result of a third voltage of the second polarity and having an increased potential compared with the second voltage being applied across the electrodes.

Memory cells, memory systems, and memory programming methods

Memory sense amplifiers and memory verification methods are described. According to one aspect, a memory sense amplifier includes a first input coupled with a memory element of a memory cell, wherein the memory element has different memory states at different moments in time, a second input configured to receive a reference signal, modification circuitry configured to provide a data signal at the first input from the memory element having a plurality of different voltages corresponding to respective ones of different memory states of the memory cell at the different moments in time, and comparison circuitry coupled with the modification circuitry and configured to compare the data signal and the reference signal at the different moments in time and to provide an output signal indicative of the memory state of the memory cell at the different moments in time as a result of the comparison to implement a plurality of verify operations of the memory states of the memory cell at the different moments in time.

Growing community of inventors

Folsom, CA, United States of America

Makoto Kitagawa