An On-Line Aging Detection and Tolerance Framework for Improving Reliability of STT-MRAMs

Spin-transfer-torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-MRAM) is one of the most promising emerging memories for on-chip memory. However, the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) in the STT-MRAM suffers from several reliability threats which degrade the endurance, create defects, and cause memory failure. One of the primary reliability issues comes from time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) on MTJ, which deviates resistance value of MTJ over time and may lead to reading error. To overcome this challenge, in this paper we present an on-line aging detection and tolerance framework to dynamically monitor the electrical parameter deviations and provide appropriate compensation to avoid reading error. The on-line aging detection mechanism can identify aged words by monitoring read current and then the aging tolerance mechanism can adjust the reference resistance of the sensing amplifier to compensate the aging-induced resistance drop of MTJ. In comparison with existing testing-based aging detection techniques, our mechanism can operate on-line with read operations for both aging detection and tolerance simultaneously with negligible performance overhead. Simulation and analysis results show that the proposed techniques can successfully detect 99% aging words under process variation and achieve at most 25% reliability improvement of STT-MRAMs.