Patent ID: 6842366

Claim:
A thin film magnetic memory device comprising: a plurality of memory cells each having an electric resistance according to a magnetic direction; a data line electrically coupled to a fixed voltage through a selected memory cell selected as a data read target among said plurality of memory cells during data read; a current supply circuit coupling said data line to a predetermined voltage for supplying a data read current to said selected memory cell at least during said data read; a data write circuit applying a data write magnetic field to said selected memory cell; and a data read circuit generating read data on the basis of stored data of said selected memory cell before and after application of said data write magnetic field, application of said data write magnetic field being executed at least once within one data read operation, wherein said data read circuit includes: a voltage holding section holding a voltage of said data line applied by performing a read operation from said selected memory cell before the application of said data write magnetic field in an internal node; and a voltage comparison section generating said read data in accordance with comparison between the voltage of said data line applied by performing the read operation from said selected memory cell after application of said data write magnetic field and a voltage of said internal node, and wherein, said read operation to said selected memory cell before the application of said data write magnetic field, said application of said data write magnetic field, and said read operation to said selected memory cell after the application of said data write magnetic field are continuously executed.