Reliability investigations for manufacturable high density PRAM

In this paper, PRAM (phase-change memory), exploiting new memory materials called chalcogenides, is introduced. The reliability issues for high-density commercial memory products such as disturbance immunity, endurance, and data retention are addressed and evaluated by using a 64 Mb PRAM with 0.12 /spl mu/m technology. Moreover, observed degradation modes and underlying physical mechanisms are investigated.

[1]  H. E. Kissinger.  Reaction Kinetics in Differential Thermal Analysis , 1957 .

[2]  S. Ovshinsky.  Reversible Electrical Switching Phenomena in Disordered Structures , 1968 .

[3]  Guy C. Wicker.  Nonvolatile high-density high-performance phase-change memory , 1999, Smart Materials, Nano-, and Micro- Smart Systems.

[4]  T. Daud,et al.  Overview of radiation tolerant unlimited write cycle non-volatile memory , 2000, 2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Proceedings (Cat. No.00TH8484).

[5]  S. Hudgens,et al.  Total dose radiation response and high temperature imprint characteristics of chalcogenide based RAM resistor elements , 2000 .

[6]  S. Lai,et al.  OUM - A 180 nm nonvolatile memory cell element technology for stand alone and embedded applications , 2001, International Electron Devices Meeting. Technical Digest (Cat. No.01CH37224).

[7]  S. Hudgens,et al.  Characteristics of OUM Phase Change Materials and Devices for High Density Nonvolatile Commodity and Embedded Memory Applications , 2003 .

[8]  S. Lai,et al.  Current status of the phase change memory and its future , 2003, IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 2003.

[9]  J. Rodgers,et al.  Chalcogenide memory arrays: characterization and radiation effects , 2003 .

[10]  R. Bez,et al.  An 8Mb demonstrator for high-density 1.8V Phase-Change Memories , 2004, 2004 Symposium on VLSI Circuits. Digest of Technical Papers (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37525).

[11]  D. Ielmini,et al.  Reliability study of phase-change nonvolatile memories , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability.

[12]  Kinam Kim,et al.  Highly manufacturable high density phase change memory of 64Mb and beyond , 2004, IEDM Technical Digest. IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, 2004..