A reference circuit, which is applied to a ferroelectric random access
memory device, includes a polarization state detection circuit having
dummy cells with ferroelectric capacitors. The detection circuit checks
polarization states of the ferroelectric capacitor in the dummy cells
using dumping voltages of different levels, and generates pass/fail
signals as a check result. The generated pass/fail signals are decoded,
using themselves as selection information for selecting one of reference
voltages, of different levels, which are generated from a reference
voltage generation circuit. Thus, it is possible to generate an optimal
reference voltage, which senses a ferroelectric capacitor polarization
state that is changed with time.