On-chip READ and WRITE Circuits for Multi-bit Ferroelectric Tunnel Junction Memory

Ferroelectric Tunnel Junction (FTJ) is an emerging non-volatile memory technology with increasing applications in storage and computing. The low programming energy of these devices make them an excellent candidate for low-power and power constrained applications. The multi-bit capability of these devices is exploited for Matrix Vector Multiplication in memory. To program the FTJ devices to multiple states, on-chip READ and WRITE circuits are necessary. In this work, we first present the programming circuit for multi-bit FTJ. Our circuit is able to generate pulse of two different amplitude from the input pulse and apply them across the FTJ. The READ circuit is able to convert the polarization state of the FTJ (which is represented in pA currents) to a CMOS-compatible voltage. The presented circuit occupies low area in addition to being energy-efficient. The presented circuits can be adapted for other NVMs and has a strong potential to find immense application in In-Memory Computing.