Three-Dimensional Simulations of RESET Operation in Phase-Change Random Access Memory with Blade-Type Like Phase Change Layer by Finite Element Modeling
Qiu-Xue Jin1,2, Bo Liu1**, Yan Liu1, Wei-Wei Wang1,2, Heng Wang1,2, Zhen Xu1,2, Dan Gao1,2, Qing Wang1,2, Yang-Yang Xia1,2, Zhi-Tang Song1, Song-Lin Feng1
1State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Shanghai Institute of Micro-system and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
Abstract：An optimized device structure for reducing the RESET current of phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) with blade-type like (BTL) phase change layer is proposed. The electrical thermal analysis of the BTL cell and the blade heater contactor structure by three-dimensional finite element modeling are compared with each other during RESET operation. The simulation results show that the programming region of the phase change layer in the BTL cell is much smaller, and thermal electrical distributions of the BTL cell are more concentrated on the TiN/GST interface. The results indicate that the BTL cell has the superiorities of increasing the heating efficiency, decreasing the power consumption and reducing the RESET current from 0.67 mA to 0.32 mA. Therefore, the BTL cell will be appropriate for high performance PCRAM device with lower power consumption and lower RESET current.
2016, Vol. 33 
