Abstract

In the design of nonvolatile memory (NVM), the sense amplifier (SA) contributes a major part of the power consumption due to high-frequency read operations. This brief proposes a leakage-current-canceling current-sampling sense amplifier (LCCS-SA) for the suppression of the read power consumption by operating in near-threshold region. The proposed LCCS-SA adopts the technology of offset cancellation and single-ended differential circuit structure to compensate the effect of the leakage current. The bit-line (BL) leakage-induced read failure is effectively suppressed in near-threshold region. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the proposed LCCS-SA can operate at a supply voltage of 0.4 V and achieves 4.4 times lower read energy per bit compared to the conventional current-sampling-based SA.

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