Nanoscale Tapered Pt Bottom Electrode Fabricated by FIB for Low Power and Highly Stable Operations of Phase Change Memory

Phase change random access memory (PC-RAM) based on Si₂Sb₂Te₅ with a Pt tapered heating electrode (Pt-THE), which is fabricated using a focus ion beam (FIB), is investigated. Compared with the tungsten electrode, the Pt-THE facilitates the temperature rise in phase change material, which causes the decrease of reset voltage from 3.6 to 2.7 V. The programming region of the cell with the Pt-THE is smaller than that of the cell with a cylindrical tungsten heating electrode. The improved performance of the PC-RAM with a Pt-THE is attributed to the higher resistivity and lower thermal conductivity of the Pt electrode, and the reduction of the programming region, which is also verified by thermal simulation.