Patent ID: 7453719

Claim:
A magnetic random access memory comprising: a plurality of bit lines extending in a first direction; a reference bit line extending in the first direction; a plurality of memory cells provided along said plurality of bit lines; a plurality of reference cells provided along said plurality of reference bit lines; and a read section, wherein each of said plurality of memory cells has a first tunneling magnetic resistance which has spontaneous magnetization whose direction is reversed in accordance with data to be stored to take a first state or a second state, and is connected to one of said plurality of bit lines in a read operation, each of said plurality of reference cells has a reference tunneling magnetic resistance which has spontaneous magnetization whose direction is reversed in accordance with data to be stored to take the first state or the second state and is connected to one of said plurality of reference bit lines in the read operation, said read section comprises: a first resistance section having a first resistance value and having a ninth terminal serving as one terminal connected to a selected bit line and a tenth terminal serving as the other terminal connected to a first power supply in the read operation; a second resistance section having a second resistance value different from the first resistance value and having an eleventh terminal serving as one terminal connected to said reference bit line and a twelfth terminal serving as the other terminal connected to the first power supply in the read operation; and a comparing section configured to compare a sense voltage serving as a voltage of the ninth terminal with a reference voltage serving as a voltage of the eleventh terminal, wherein when the data stored in a selected cell is read out, said read section generates said sense voltage by dividing the voltage of the first power supply by said first tunneling magnetic resistance and said first resistance section of the selected cell, and said reference voltage by dividing the voltage of the first power supply by said reference tunneling magnetic resistance and said second resistance section of a selected reference cell, and outputs a comparison result between said sense voltage and said reference voltage, and said selected cell is selected from said plurality of memory cells and said selected reference cell is selected from said plurality of reference cells.