Patent ID: 7764536

Claim:
A magnetic memory comprising: a plurality of magnetic storage cells, each of the plurality of magnetic storage cells including at least one magnetic element and at least one selection device, the at least one magnetic element being programmable using at least one write current driven through the magnetic element; a plurality of bit lines corresponding to the plurality of magnetic storage cells; at least one reference line for providing at least one reference signal; at least one sense amplifier coupled with the plurality of bit lines and the at least one reference line, the at least one sense amplifier having logic and a plurality of stages, the plurality of stages including a first stage and a second stage, the first stage for converting at least one current signal to at least one differential voltage signal and the second stage for amplifying the at least one differential voltage signal, the logic for selectively disabling at least one of the first stage and the second stage in the absence of a read operation and enabling the first stage and the second stage during the read operation, the first stage including a first stage enable input, a first output and a second output, the second stage including a second stage enable input, first input coupled with the first output and a second input coupled with the second output; wherein the logic further includes a plurality of noninverting gates interleaved with a plurality of inverting gates coupled between the first stage enable input and the second stage enable input, a first transistor coupled between the first output and the second output and being enabled by the first stage enable input, and a plurality of transistor pairs coupled between the first and second outputs and the first and second inputs.