US 11,682,442 B2
Forced current access with voltage clamping in cross-point array
Michael Nicolas Albert Tran, San Jose, CA (US); Ward Parkinson, Boise, ID (US); Michael Grobis, Campbell, CA (US); and Nathan Franklin, Belmont, CA (US)
Assigned to SanDisk Technologies LLC, Addison, TX (US)
Filed by SanDisk Technologies LLC, Addison, TX (US)
Filed on Jun. 22, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/846,678.
Application 17/846,678 is a continuation of application No. 17/232,924, filed on Apr. 16, 2021, granted, now 11,398,262.
Prior Publication US 2022/0335998 A1, Oct. 20, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G11C 11/16 (2006.01); H01L 27/22 (2006.01); H01L 43/02 (2006.01); H01L 43/08 (2006.01); H01L 27/24 (2006.01)
CPC G11C 11/1659 (2013.01) [G11C 11/1655 (2013.01); G11C 11/1657 (2013.01); G11C 11/1673 (2013.01); G11C 11/1675 (2013.01); G11C 11/1695 (2013.01); G11C 11/1697 (2013.01); H01L 27/222 (2013.01); H01L 43/02 (2013.01); H01L 43/08 (2013.01); H01L 27/2481 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more control circuits configured to connect to a cross-point memory array, the cross-point memory array comprising a plurality of first conductive lines, a plurality of second conductive lines, and a plurality of non-volatile memory cells each connected between one of the first conductive lines and one of the second conductive lines, wherein each memory cell comprises a programmable resistance memory element in series with a select element, wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to:
apply a select voltage to a selected first conductive line;
apply an access current to a selected second conductive line while holding the selected first conductive line at the select voltage to force the access current through a selected memory cell that is connected between the selected first conductive line and the selected second conductive line; and
clamp a voltage on the selected second conductive line to a voltage limit while applying the access current to the selected second conductive line.