嵌入式相变存储器的技术特点和研究现状

从2001年Intel在IEDM发表第一篇相变存储器的论文以来,相变存储器的发展十分迅猛.相变存储器由于具有非易失性、循环寿命长、元件尺寸小、功耗低、可多级存储、高速读取、抗辐射、耐高低温、抗振动、抗电子干扰和制造工艺简单等优点,被认为最有可能取代目前的FLASH和DRAM而成为未来半导体存储器主流产品.文中系统地介绍了嵌入式相变存储器的存储机理及其主要工作特点,从相变材料,器件结构,存储阵列等方面分析国内外研究现状,并讨论了器件失效与可靠性问题.     

Resistive switching characteristics of Sm2O3 thin films for nonvolatile memory applications

This study investigates a sputtered Sm₂O₃ thin film to apply into a resistive random access memory device. The proposed device exhibits a stable resistance ratio of about 2.5 orders after 10⁴ cycling bias pulses and no degradation for retention characteristics monitored after an endurance test at 85 °C. The conduction mechanisms for low and high resistance states are dominated by ohmic behavior and trap-controlled space-charge limited current, respectively. The resistance switching is ascribed to the formation/rupture of conductive filaments.     

相变存储器单元疲劳特性研究

本文主要研究了相变存储器存储单元的疲劳特性。随着操作次数的增多,相变存储器单元在高阻态和低祖态下的阻值逐渐的向着相反的方向变化。同时,本文还讨论了在疲劳操作下,相变单元状态改变所需的操作条件也在逐渐的改变。在最初的一定次数的疲劳操作条件下,单元的阈值电压缓慢的减小,并且在之后的操作中,阈值电压急剧增大。这是由于器件单元的界面效应以及相变区域体积变化工作作用引起的。本文对于之一现象,给出了合理的解释以及数据加以证明。     

A review of compact modeling for phase change memory

Phase change memory(PCM)attracts wide attention for the memory-centric computing and neuromorphic comput-ing.For circuit and system designs,PCM compact models are mandatory and their status are reviewed in this work.Macro mod-els and physics-based models have been proposed in different stages of the PCM technology developments.Compact model-ing of PCM is indeed more complex than the transistor modeling due to their multi-physics nature including electrical,thermal and phase transition dynamics as well as their interactions.Realizations of the PCM operations including threshold switching,set and reset programming in these models are diverse,which also differs from the perspective of circuit simulations.For the purpose of efficient and reliable designs of the PCM technology,open issues and challenges of the compact modeling are also discussed.     

High temperature transport kinetics in heteroepitaxial LaFeO3 thin films

Heteroepitaxial LaFeO₃(1 1 0) thin films with a thickness of 150 nm were grown on LaAlO₃(0 0 1) by reactive sputtering in an inverted cylindrical magnetron geometry. Equilibrium conductivity was measured as a function of partial pressure of oxygen at T=1000 °C, and logσ plotted vs. logP(O₂) showed a minimum in conductivity for P(O₂)=10⁻¹¹ atm and a linear response between 10⁻¹⁰ and 1 atm. This linear response makes thin films of LaFeO₃ a promising material for oxygen sensor applications. We have also measured the time response of the film conductivity upon an abrupt change in the partial pressure of ambient oxygen from 10⁻² to 10⁻³ atm, which was determined at 60 s for T=700 °C and <3.5 s at T=1000 °C.     

Investigation and solution of low yield problem for phase change memory with lateral fully-confined structure

This paper mainly focuses on solving the low yield problem for lateral phase change random access memory with a fully confined phase change material node. Improper over-etching and bad step-coverage of physical vapor deposition were the main reasons for the poor contact quality, which leads to the low yield problem. Process improvement was carried out to better control over-etching within 10 nm. Atomic layer deposition process was used to replace physical vapor deposition to guarantee good step coverage. Contrasting cross-sectional photos taken by scanning electron microscopy showed great improvement in contact quality. The atom layer deposition process was demonstrated to have good prospects in nano-contact for phase change memory application.     

Improving the data retention of phase change memory by using a doping element in selected Ge_2Sb_2Te_5

The crystallization characteristics of a ubiquitous T-shaped phase change memory(PCM) cell, under SET current pulse and very small disturb current pulse, have been investigated by finite element modelling. As analyzed in this paper, the crystallization region under SET current pulse presents first on the corner of the bottom electron contact(BEC) and then promptly forms a filament shunting down the amorphous phase to achieve the low-resistance state, whereas the tiny disturb current pulse accelerates crystallization at the axis of symmetry in the phase change material. According to the different crystallization paths, a new structure of phase change material layer is proposed to improve the data retention for PCM without impeding SET operation.This structure only requires one or two additional process steps to dope nitrogen element in the center region of phase change material layer to increase the crystallization temperature in this confined region. The electrical-thermal characteristics of PCM cells with incremental doped radius have been analyzed and the best performance is presented when the doped radius is equal to the radius of the BEC.     

Epitaxial ferroelectric PbZrxTi1–xO3 thin films for non-volatile memory applications

Epitaxial ferroelectric PbZr_xTi_1–xO₃ (PZT) thin film capacitors with SrRuO₃ (SRO) bottom electrodes have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on LaAlO₃ (0 0 1) substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that epitaxial heterostructures with a high crystalline quality were obtained. Ferroelectric capacitors were defined by thermal evaporation of aluminium contact pads onto the PZT films. Remnant polarizations of about 13 μC/cm² and coercive fields of about 150 kV/cm are obtained at a frequency of 10 Hz. The capacitors show very little fatigue of the remnant polarization with cumulative switching. A tendency to imprint, arising from the use of asymmetric electrodes, is observed.     

(Pb0.97La0.02) (Zr0.75Sn0.25-xTix) O3 反铁电陶瓷温度诱导相变效应

Pb0：97La0：02（Zr0：75Sn0：25x Ti x/O3（x D0.10, 0.105, 0.11）（PLZST） antiferroelectric ceramics with highly preferred-（110） orientation were successfully fabricated via the conventional solid-state reaction method.The antiferroelectric nature of PLZST ceramics induced by electric field was demonstrated by the dielectric constant-temperature（D-T） and the polarization-electric field（P-E） measurement. Typical phase transition from ferroelectric（FE） to antiferroelectric（AFE）, and then to paraelectric（PE） is obtained. The results indicate that the phase transition behavior is suppressed with increasing of x, and T c is remarkably shifted to higher temperature of168 ℃, 170 ℃ and 174 ℃, respectively. Besides, high phase transition current（110 6A, 810 7A and 610 7A, respectively） is obtained with temperature induced. Consequently, the excellent electric properties and the restraint between temperature and electric field would provide basis on the application of PLZST antiferroelectric ceramics in microelectronic integrated systems and sophisticated weapons systems.     

Characterization of Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film transistor and its application in non-volatile memory

With the increasing requirement of high density memory technology, a new cell structure—1TR has received much attention. It consists of a single thin film transistor (TFT) with chalcogenide Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ as the channel material. In order to evaluate the feasibility of its application in the field of non-volatile memory, we take a further step in researching on the characteristics of GST-TFT. We fabricated a back-gate GST-TFT and investigated the output and transfer characteristics of its two states. The experimental results show that gate voltage can modulate the GST channel currents in both the amorphous and the crystalline states. Based on the experiments, we can expect that this novel device can ultimately lead to a new nonvolatile memory technology with even higher storage density.     

用热蒸发法制备的Cu2ZnSnS4 薄膜的光电性能

在室温下用真空热蒸发法在玻璃基片上制备Sn/Cu/ZnS 前躯体膜层,然后对其在550C 下在硫气氛中硫化3小时以制得Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) 多晶薄膜。对该薄膜进行X射线衍射（XRD）、能量色散X射线光谱（EDX）、紫外可见近红外分光光度计、霍尔测量系统和3D光学显微镜等分析测试。实验结果表明,当[Cu]/([Zn] [Sn]) =0.83和[Zn]/[Sn] =1.15时,该CZTS薄膜在光子能量范围在1.5 - 3.5 eV 时其吸收系数大于4.010₄cm_-1 ,直接带隙为1.47 eV。其载流子浓度、电阻率和迁移率分别为7.9710₁₆ cm_-3, 6.06 Ω.cm, 12.9 cm₂/(V.s), 导电类型为p型。因此,所制备出的CZTS 薄膜适合作为太阳电池的吸收层材料。     

纳米VO2薄膜相变特性的红外透射表征研究

采用双离子束溅射VOx薄膜附加热处理的方式制备纳米VO2薄膜,利用X射线衍射仪和扫描电子显微镜分别对其结晶结构和表面形貌进行了测试,利用傅立叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)对热驱动下纳米VO2薄膜相变过程中的光学性能进行测试与分析。实验结果表明,经400℃N2热处理后,获得了由纳米颗粒组成的VO2薄膜;在所测试的红外波段,纳米VO2薄膜内颗粒发生相变的初始温度随波长的增加而升高,薄膜的相变温度点随波长增加也逐渐升高。     

Zn0.8Na0.1Co0.1O薄膜的制备及衬底温度对其影响

采用脉冲激光沉积(PLD)技术.在温度为400、500和600℃的SiO2衬底上成功制备出Zn0.8Nao.1Co0.1O薄膜.用x射线衍射(XRD)、原子力显微镜(AFM)、荧光光谱仪、四探针电阻率测试台等对薄膜的结构、表面形貌和光电性质进行了表征,讨论了不同衬底温度对薄膜结构、光学和电学性质的影响.结果表明:掺杂没...     

Growth of highly (1 1 1) oriented CuIn0.75Al0.25Se2 thin films

CuIn_0.75Al_0.25Se₂ thin films prepared onto glass substrates at T_S=573 K were single phase, nearly stoichiometric and polycrystalline with a strong (1 1 1) preferred orientation showing sphalerite structure. The results of X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction studies are compared, interpreted and correlated with micro-Raman spectra. The optical absorption studies indicated a direct band gap of 1.16 eV with high absorption coefficient (>10⁴ cm^?1) near the fundamental absorption edge.     

沉积温度对BiFeO3薄膜的微观结构与化学计量比的影响

采用高分辨透射电子显微镜并结合选区电子衍射、X射线能谱仪技术研究沉积温度对BiFeO3薄膜的微观结构与化学计量比的影响。与600℃和700℃沉积的BiFeO3薄膜相比,在500℃沉积的BiFeO3薄膜表面出现了许多岛状的二次相,即Bi2O3。当沉积温度提高到600℃和700℃时,外延BiFeO3薄膜是单晶,并且与SrRuO3缓冲层匹配良好,而且没有出现位错和二次相。通过大量的EDS数据统计分析,在500℃、600℃和700℃生长的BiFeO3薄膜,它们的Bi/Fe摩尔比分别为0.798、0.906和0.870,其中,Bi元素的缺乏可能是由于500℃时析出物Bi2O3的形成和700℃时Bi的挥发所致。     

Fabrication of Ge2Sb2Te5 based PRAM device at 60 nm scale by using UV nanoimprint lithography

Phase change memory is one of the most promising non-volatile memory for the next generation memory media due to its simplicity, wide dynamic range, fast switching speed and possibly low power consumption. Low power consuming operation of phase change random access memory (PRAM) can be achieved by confining the switching volume of phase change media into nanometer scale. Nanoimprint lithography is an emerging lithographic technique in which surface protrusions of a mold such as sub-100 nm patterns are transferred into a resin layer easily. In this study, crossbar structures of phase change device array based on Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ were successfully fabricated at 60 nm scale by two consecutive UV nanoimprint lithography and metal lift-off process, which showed on/off resistance ratio up to 3000.     

The TCR of Ni24.9Cr72.5Si2.6 thin films deposited by DC and RF magnetronsputtering

The temperature coefficient of resistance (abbreviated as TCR) of thin film resistors on some sensor chips,such as thermal converters,should be less than several ppm/℃.However,the TCR of reported thin films is larger than 5 ppm/℃.In this paper,Ni_24.9Cr_72.5Si_2.6 films are deposited on silicon dioxide film by DC and RF magnetron sputtering.Then as-deposited films are annealed at 450℃ under different durations in N₂ atmosphere. The sheet resistance of thin films with various thickness and annealing time are measured by the four probe resistivity test system at temperature of 20,50,100,150,and 200℃ and then the TCR of thin films are calculated. Experimental results show that the film with the TCR of only-0.86 ppm/℃ can be achieved by RF magnetron sputtering and appropriate annealing conditions.     

Patterning of Ge2Sb2Te5 phase change material using UV nano-imprint lithography

DRAM is the most commonly used memory due to many advantages such as high speed and easy manufacturability owing to its simple structure, but is volatile. On the other hand, flash memory is non-volatile, but has other disadvantages such as slow speed, short lifetime, and low endurance for repetitive data writing. Compared to DRAM and flash memory, PRAM (Phase-change Random Access Memory), which is a non-volatile memory using a reversible phase change between amorphous and crystalline state, has many advantages such as high speed, high sensing margin, low operating voltage, and is being pursed as a next generation memory. Being able to pattern and etch phase change memory in nanometer scale is essential for the integration of PRAM. This study uses the Nano-Imprint Lithography (NIL) for patterning the PRAM in nanometer scale which is believed to be a future lithography technology that will replace the conventional Photo Lithography. Si wafers coated with SiO₂ were used as substrates, and Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) films with the thicknesses of 100 nm were deposited by RF sputtering. Poly-benzylmethacrylate based polymer patterns were formed using NIL on the surface of GST films, and the GST films were etched using Cl₂/Ar plasma in an Oxford ICP (inductively coupled plasma) etcher.     

A simple chemical route to synthesize the umangite phase of copper selenide (Cu3Se2) thin film at room temperature

Copper selenide (Cu₃Se₂)thin films have been synthesized with Se as the precursor in aqueous solution by chemical bath deposition technique at room temperature. We have investigated the influence of the growth time ranging from 30 to 90 min on structural, optical and electrical properties of Cu₃Se₂ thin films. The as-grown film at 60 min exhibits a tetragonal structure and is (101) oriented. The maximum value of crystal size D= 55 nm is attained for Cu₃Se₂ films grown at 60 min. The Raman spectrum reveals a pronounced peak at 259 cm^-1, which is assigned to vibrational (stretching) modes from the covalent Se-Se bonds. The optical band gap energy is 1.91 to 2.01 eV with growth time increased from 30 to 90 min. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study reveals that the grains are uniform and spread over the entire surface of the substrate of the film at 60 min. The Hall effect study reveals that the film exhibits p-type conductivity. The synthesized film showed good absorbance in the visible region which signifies that synthesized Cu₃Se₂ films can be suitable as a sensitized material in semiconductor sensitized solar cells.     

Ga2O3缓冲层厚度对柔性衬底沉积Cu/ITO薄膜性能的影响

Cu and Cu/ITO films were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrates with a Ga2O3 buffer layer using radio frequency （RF） and direct current （DC） magnetron sputtering. The effect of Cu layer thickness on the optical and electrical properties of the Cu film deposited on a PET substrate with a Ga2O3 buffer layer was studied, and an appropriate Cu layer thickness of 4.2 nm was obtained. Changes in the optoelectrical properties of Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films were investigated with respect to the Ga2O3 buffer layer thickness. The optical and electrical properties of the Cu/ITO films were significantly influenced by the thickness of the Ga2O3 buffer layer. A maximum transmission of 86%, sheet resistance of 45 Ω/□ and figure of merit of 3.96 × 10^-3 Ω^ -1 were achieved for Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films with a Ga2O3 layer thickness of 15 nm.