# US 10,374,156 B2 · Memory cells including a metal chalcogenide material and related methods

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- Number: US 10,374,156 B2
- Document ID: US10374156B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/333,774
- Filed: 2016-10-25
- Published: 2017-02-09
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2012-05-21
- Assignees: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Applicants: Micron Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: Eugene P. Marsh; Stefan Uhlenbrock
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10374156B2

## CPC

- H10N 70/882: {Compounds of sulfur, selenium or tellurium, e.g. chalcogenides}
- H10N 70/011: {Manufacture or treatment of multistable switching devices}
- H10N 70/023: {by chemical vapor deposition, e.g. MOCVD, ALD}
- H10N 70/231: {based on solid-state phase change, e.g. between amorphous and crystalline phases, Ovshinsky effect}
- H10N 70/245: {the species being metal cations, e.g. programmable metallization cells}
- H10N 70/826: {adapted for essentially vertical current flow, e.g. sandwich or pillar type devices}
- H10N 70/8416: {adapted for supplying ionic species}
- H10N 70/8828: {Tellurides, e.g. GeSbTe}
- H10N 70/8833: {Binary metal oxides, e.g. TaOx}
- H10P 14/6339: {deposition by cyclic CVD, e.g. ALD, ALE or pulsed CVD}
- H10P 14/6939: {characterised by the metal}
- H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A method of forming a metal chalcogenide material. The method comprises introducing a metal precursor and a chalcogenide precursor into a chamber, and reacting the metal precursor and the chalcogenide precursor to form a metal chalcogenide material on a substrate. The metal precursor is a carboxylate of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a post-transition metal, or a metalloid. The chalcogenide precursor is a hydride, alkyl, or aryl precursor of sulfur, selenium, or tellurium or a silylhydride, silylalkyl, or silylaryl precursor of sulfur, selenium, or tellurium. Methods of forming a memory cell including the metal chalcogenide material are also disclosed, as are memory cells including the metal chalcogenide material.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A memory cell, comprising:
a dielectric material over a first electrode;
a conductive material laterally adjacent to the dielectric material;
an active material over the conductive material and the dielectric material, the active material comprising a substantially uniform thickness across a length thereof, the active material comprising the same length as a combined length of the conductive material and the dielectric material, and a length of the active material substantially the same as a length of the first electrode;
an ion source material conformally formed over the active material, the ion source material comprising a metal chalcogenide material comprising antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), gold (Au), indium (In), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), tin (Sn), or zinc (Zn) as the metal and sulfur, selenium, or tellurium as the chalcogen and the metal chalcogenide material excluding SbTe, GeTe, GeSbTe, ZnTe, BiTe, ZnSe, BiSe, InSe, and CuSe; and
a second electrode over the ion source material, wherein a length of the ion source material is the same as a length of the conductive material.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the ion source material comprises a copper telluride material.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the ion source material comprises a metal chalcogenide material having a purity of greater than about 99%.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein an upper surface of the conductive material is coplanar with an upper surface of the dielectric material.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the dielectric material isolates at least a portion of the first electrode from the active material.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the active material is directly on an upper surface of the conductive material and on an upper surface of the dielectric material.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the active material is directly on an upper, horizontal surface of the conductive material and on an upper, horizontal surface of the dielectric material.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, further comprising an insulator laterally adjacent to the ion source material.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the metal chalcogenide material comprises a binary compound.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the metal chalcogenide material comprises a ternary compound or a quaternary compound.

### Claim 11

A memory cell, comprising:
a conductive material and a dielectric material over a first electrode, the conductive material adjacent the dielectric material;
an active material over the conductive material and the dielectric material, the active material in direct contact with an entire length of the conductive material and the active material in direct contact with an entire length of the dielectric material;
an ion source material over the active material, the ion source material comprising a metal chalcogenide material comprising antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), gold (Au), indium (In), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), tin (Sn), or zinc (Zn) as the metal and sulfur, selenium, or tellurium as the chalcogen and the metal chalcogenide material excluding SbTe, GeTe, GeSbTe, ZnTe, BiTe, ZnSe, BiSe, InSe, and CuSe; and
a second electrode over the ion source material, wherein a length of the ion source material is the same as a length of the conductive material.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The memory cell of claim 11, wherein the ion source material is in direct contact with the active material.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The memory cell of claim 11, wherein the conductive material is laterally adjacent the dielectric material.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The memory cell of claim 11, wherein an upper surface of the conductive material is coplanar with an upper surface of the dielectric material.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The memory cell of claim 11, wherein the conductive material is in electrical contact with the first electrode and the active material.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The memory cell of claim 11, further comprising an insulator laterally adjacent to the ion source material.

### Claim 17

A memory device, comprising:
memory cells, each memory cell comprising:
a dielectric material over a first electrode;
a conductive material laterally adjacent to the dielectric material;
an active material over the conductive material and the dielectric material, the active material in direct contact with an entire length of the conductive material and the active material in direct contact with an entire length of the dielectric material;
an ion source material conformally formed over the active material, the ion source material comprising a metal chalcogenide material comprising antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), gold (Au), indium Un lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), tin (Sn), or zinc (Zn) as the metal and sulfur, selenium, or tellurium as the chalcogen and the metal chalcogenide material excluding SbTe, GeTe, GeSbTe, ZnTe, BiTe, ZnSe, BiSe, InSe, and CuSe; and
a second electrode over the ion source material, wherein a length of the ion source material is the same as a length of the conductive material.