Patent ID: 7274587

Claim:
A semiconductor memory element, comprising: a first power-supply terminal and a second power-supply terminal; a MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) transistor including a gate; a two-terminal variable resistor element connected between the gate of the MIS transistor and the first power-supply terminal, the variable resistor element having a resistance that changes in accordance with a current flowing in the variable resistor element or a direction in which the current flows but remains unchanged due to cutoff of the current; and a fixed resistor element connected between the gate of the MIS transistor and the second power-supply terminal, wherein the variable resistor element has a first resistance or a second resistance higher than the first resistance, in accordance with the current flowing in the variable resistor element or the direction in which the current flows, and the gate of the MIS transistor is set to a voltage lower than a threshold value V th of the transistor when the variable resistor element has the first resistance, and to a voltage higher than the threshold value V th when the variable resistor element has the second resistance.