Parasitic reset in the programming transient of PCMs

Author

Ielmini, D. ; Mantegazza, D. ; Lacaita, A.L. ; Pirovano, A. ; Pellizzer, F.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettronica e Informazione & Italian Univ.es Nano-electronics Team, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Volume

26

Issue

11

fYear

2005

Firstpage

799

Lastpage

801

Abstract

We studied the programming dynamics in phase change memory cells. It is shown that programming in stand-alone cells is strongly affected by the parasitic capacitance in the measurement setup, leading to a current overshoot after threshold switching of the amorphous chalcogenide. This results in a parasitic melting and quenching of the active material, affecting the current distribution during program and the final phase distribution in the active material. The relevance of this artefact for real-device operation is discussed with reference to the value of the parasitic capacitance.

Keywords

chalcogenide glasses; current distribution; melting; phase change materials; quenching (thermal); random-access storage; PCM; active material; amorphous chalcogenide; chalcogenide materials; current distribution; nonvolatile memory; parasitic capacitance; parasitic melting; phase change memory; phase distribution; programming transient; quenching; threshold switching; Amorphous materials; Capacitance measurement; Contacts; Crystallization; Dynamic programming; Electrical resistance measurement; Parasitic capacitance; Phase change materials; Phase change memory; Voltage; Phase change memories (PCMs); chalcogenide materials; nonvolatile memories; threshold switching;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2005.857719

Filename

1522459