FIG. 8 depicts some embodiments of a top view of FIG. 7's integrated circuit 700 as indicated in the cut-away lines shown in FIGS. 7-8. As can be seen, the MTJ memory elements 102a, 102b can have a square/rectangular or circular/elliptical shape when viewed from above in some embodiments. In other embodiments, however, for example, due to practicalities of many etch processes, the corners of the illustrated square shape can become rounded, resulting in MTJ memory elements 102a, 102b having a square shape with rounded corners, or having a circular shape. The MTJ memory elements 102a, 102b are arranged over metal lines 740, respectively, and have upper portions in direct electrical connection with the metal lines 742, respectively, without vias or contacts there between in some embodiments. In other embodiments, vias or contacts couple the upper portion to the metal lines 742.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart 900 of some embodiments of a method of reading from an MTJ memory cell.

At act 902, a memory device is provided. The memory device includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) current path and a reference current path in parallel with the MTJ current path. The MTJ current path comprises an MTJ memory cell connected in series with a non-linear resistance device. In some embodiments, this memory device can, for example, correspond to the memory device and the data path illustrated in FIGS. 1-4B.