Programmable semiconductor device
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsWilliam R. Tonti, Wayne S. Berry, John A. Fifield, William H. Guthrie, Richard S. Kontra
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Abstract
A programmable device includes a substrate (10); an insulator (13) on the substrate; an elongated semiconductor material (12) on the insulator, the elongated semiconductor material having first and second ends, and an upper surface S; the first end (12a) is substantially wider than the second end (12b), and a metallic material is disposed on the upper surface; the metallic material being physically migratable along the upper surface responsive to an electrical current I flowable through the semiconductor material and the metallic material.
Claims10
A method of programming a device, comprising:
- flowing an electrical current at a voltage through a device having a semiconductor alloy disposed on a doped semiconductor line, for a time period such that a portion of the semiconductor alloy irreversibly migrates from a first end of the device to a location proximate to a second end of the device.
A method of fabricating a programmed semiconductor device, includes:
- providing a semiconductor substrate (10) having a thermal insulator (13);
- disposing an elongated semiconductor material (12) on the insulator, the semiconductor material having an upper surface S, a first resistivity, and two ends;
- disposing a metallic material (40) on the upper surface;
- the metallic material having a second resistivity much less than the first resistivity of the semiconductor material;
- flowing an electrical current I through the semiconductor material (12) and the metallic material (40) for a time period such that a portion of the metallic material migrates from one end (12a) of the semiconductor material to the other end (12b) and melts the semiconductor material to form an open circuit (90).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.