Semiconductor device
First Claim
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1. A semiconductor device comprising:
- a plurality of memory cells including memory elements to store information by varying resistance values of the memory elements; and
a reference system circuit enabling a measurement of distribution of the resistance values for the plurality of memory cells,wherein the reference system circuit comprises a resistance selection circuit in which a resistance value of a reference resistance to be compared with the resistance values of the memory elements is variable from a first resistance value lower than a minimum resistance value that the memory elements assume up to a second resistance value higher than a maximum resistance value that the memory elements assume, andwherein the resistance selection circuit comprises switches that are serially connected to a plurality of resistance elements having mutually different resistances via respective fuses to form serially-connected bodies, and these serially-connected bodies are connected in parallel, so that before disconnection of the fuses, the reference resistance is formed by selectively combining the plurality of resistance elements according to an externally input control signal, and after selective disconnection of the fuses, the reference resistance is formed by selectively combining the plurality of resistance elements according to the fuse state.
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Abstract
A semiconductor device has a plurality of memory cells including memory elements to store information by varying resistance values of the memory elements. The semiconductor device further has a reference system circuit enables measurement of distribution of the resistance values for the plurality of memory cells.
56 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A semiconductor device comprising:
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a plurality of memory cells including memory elements to store information by varying resistance values of the memory elements; and a reference system circuit enabling a measurement of distribution of the resistance values for the plurality of memory cells, wherein the reference system circuit comprises a resistance selection circuit in which a resistance value of a reference resistance to be compared with the resistance values of the memory elements is variable from a first resistance value lower than a minimum resistance value that the memory elements assume up to a second resistance value higher than a maximum resistance value that the memory elements assume, and wherein the resistance selection circuit comprises switches that are serially connected to a plurality of resistance elements having mutually different resistances via respective fuses to form serially-connected bodies, and these serially-connected bodies are connected in parallel, so that before disconnection of the fuses, the reference resistance is formed by selectively combining the plurality of resistance elements according to an externally input control signal, and after selective disconnection of the fuses, the reference resistance is formed by selectively combining the plurality of resistance elements according to the fuse state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A reference level determination method comprising:
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providing a semiconductor device comprising a reference system circuit including a plurality of reference resistances, and a resistance selection circuit connected to the plurality of reference resistances; varying a resistance value of the reference system circuit to measure a distribution of resistance values of memory elements included in a plurality of memory cells of the semiconductor device; and determining a resistance value of a reference resistance based on a degree of the distribution; wherein when in the plurality of memory cells, there is a disparity between the degree of distribution in a low-resistance state and the degree of distribution in a high-resistance state, the resistance value of the reference resistance is determined to be a value biased to either one of the degrees of distribution having a higher distribution peak from the intermediate value between the resistance values in the low-resistance state and the resistance value in the high-resistance state. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A semiconductor device comprising:
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a plurality of memory cells including memory elements to store information by varying resistance values of the memory elements; a reference system circuit including a variable resistance value to be output for a reference of the memory cells; and first and second chips each of which includes the plurality of memory cells; wherein the reference system circuit establishes, as the variable resistance value included therein, first and second resistance values, the first resistance value being established as a reference for the memory cells in the first chip, and the second resistance value being established as a reference for the memory cells in the second chip. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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Specification