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1 SEPTEMBER 2003
I. INTRODUCTION
0021-8979/2003/94(5)/3536/7/$20.00
3536
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Kang et al.
3537
FIG. 2. a The schematic cross section of the PCRAM memory cell for
which a one-dimensional heat conduction model is developed and b the
top view of a conventional 8F 2 memory cell.
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3538
Kang et al.
the active region of the Si substrate can be obtained by solving the one-dimensional heat equation with a source term of
the form q Joule . For the ith layer, the equation is
T i i 2 T i q Joule,i
t
ci x2
ci
x i1 xx i ,
99 AR c c
x crit ,
a c
3
III. RESET CURRENT CALCULATION
This requirement leads to a minimum programmable distance that sets the minimum or critical thickness (x crit) of the
Ge2 Sb2 Te5 . It can easily be calculated using Eq. 3 and a
simple model of the read operation of the PCRAM, as shown
in Fig. 3, leading to
x
FIG. 3. a The resistance of a set state R SET state and b reset state R RESET
for the read operation of the PCRAM. Here, R c is the circuit resistance, c
and a are the electrical resistivities of the crystalline and amorphous phases
of Ge2 Sb2 Te5 , respectively, x is the programmable thickness, is the total
length, and A is the cross-sectional area of the Ge2 Sb2 Te5 layer.
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Kang et al.
3539
W
Ge2 Sb2 Te5 a
TiN
Melting
temperature
T m C
Mass density
(106 g/m3 )
Specific heat
c J/g K
Thermal conductivity
W/m K
Electrical resistivity
elec cm
3407
632
2950
19.3
6.2
5.24
0.132
0.202
0.784
174
0.46
220.44c
5.39
416b
201000
See Ref. 8.
See Ref. 11.
c
Assumed values from the resistivity or conductivity values of TiN film by using a WiedemannFranz law.
b
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3540
Kang et al.
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Kang et al.
3541
a-C
Melting
temperature
T m C
Mass density
(106 g/m3 )
Specific heat
C J/g K
Thermal conductivity
W/m K
Electrical resistivity
elec cm
36523697
1.8 2.1
0.617a
0.22.2b
104 106c
Assumed to be the average value of graphite 0.714 J/g K and diamond 0.521 J/g K.
See Ref. 16.
c
See Refs. 17 and 18.
FIG. 7. Temperature profiles of TiN-heater/a-C (5 nm)/Ge2 Sb2 Te5 structure with various thermal conductivities from Ref. 16 for a-C at a I F
2 mA and b I F 1 mA. For convenience, the electrical resistivity of a-C
is fixed at 106 cm.
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3542
Kang et al.
By introducing an additional heater layer of 5 nm thickness between the TiN heater and the Ge2 Sb2 Te5 layers, it has
been shown that a reset operation is possible at the required
current level of 2 mA. Moreover, the model predicts that a
low-current operation of 1 mA can be realized in a 0.15 m
8F 2 memory cell when the thermal conductivity of an additional heating layer is lower than that of Ge2 Sb2 Te5 and its
electrical resistivity is as high as 106 cm. It is thought
that such a memory cell with a heater layer with low- and
medium- elec values is a good candidate for a low-current
high-density PCRAM device. Finally, it is believed that the
model is a useful tool for estimating the operation characteristics of PCRAM devices with various plug structures.
A one-dimensional heat conduction model has been developed for a PCRAM device with a 0.15 m 8F 2 memory
cell structure in order to evaluate the required current level
for a reset operation. When a TiN heater only is considered
with a 0.15 m contact hole, the temperature at the interface
between the TiN and Ge2 Sb2 Te5 layers is far lower than the
melting temperature of Ge2 Sb2 Te5 632 C even with a resistivity of 1000 cm and thermal conductivity of 0.44
W/m K, making the write operation impossible. This is so
because the TiN is a good electrical and thermal conductor.
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