Magnetoresistive Trimming for an Ultrafast Nonvolatile RAM

The conventional method of resistive trimming involves using a laser to burn individual resistors. It is expensive and uses a lot of valuable-real estate. The proposer, IMEC, has invented a method of trimming a thinfilm resistor to a specified value that takes up much less space than laser trimming and can be completely automated under computer control. The method is the functional equivalent in magnetoelectronics of laser trimming in semiconductor technology. The proposed program will demonstrate, by fabrication and-testing, that the required precision can be achieved. IMEC will then apply the method to a critical component of its fast, nonvolatile, random-accessmemory.