A feasible approach is reported to reduce the switching current and increase the nonlinearity in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible Ti/SiN /p -Si memristor by simply reducing the cell size down to sub-100 nm. Even though the switching voltages gradually increase with decreasing device size, the reset current is reduced because of the reduced current overshoot effect. The scaled devices (sub-100 nm) exhibit gradual reset switching driven by the electric field, whereas that of the large devices (≥1 µm) is driven by Joule heating. For the scaled cell (60 nm), the current levels are tunable by adjusting the reset stop voltage for multilevel cells. It is revealed that the nonlinearity in the low-resistance state is attributed to Fowler-Nordheim tunneling dominating in the high-voltage regime (≥1 V) for the scaled cells. The experimental findings demonstrate that the scaled metal-nitride-silicon memristor device paves the way to realize CMOS-compatible high-density crosspoint array applications.
An advanced bottom electrode contact (BEC) was successfully developed for reliable high-density 256 Mb phase-change random access memory (PRAM) using a ring-type contact scheme. This advanced ring-type BEC was prepared by depositing very thin TiN films inside a contact hole, after which core dielectrics were uniformly filled into the TiN-deposited contact hole. Using this novel contact scheme, it was possible to reduce reset current while maintaining a low set resistance and a uniform cell distribution. Thus, it has been clearly demonstrated that the use of the ring-type contact technology is very feasible for high-density PRAM beyond 256 Mb.
Phase-change random access memory is considered a potential challenger for conventional memories, such as dynamic random access memory and flash memory due to its numerous advantages. Nevertheless, high reset current is the ultimate problem in developing high-density phase-change random access memory (PRAM). We focus on the adoption of Ge2Sb2Te5 confined structures to achieve lower reset currents. By changing from a normal to a GST confined structure, the reset current drops to as low as 0.8 mA. Eventually, our integrated 64 Mb PRAM based on 0.18 µm CMOS technology offers a large sensing margin: R
reset ∼200 kΩ and R
set ∼2 kΩ, as well as reasonable reliability: an endurance of 1.0×109 cycles and a retention time of 2 years at 85°C.
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