Back to results
US 7,888,666 B2Granted
Common word line edge contact phase-change memory
AssigneeMacronix International Co., Ltd.
InventorHsiang-Lan Lung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The cross-sectional area of a contact with a phase-change memory element within the cell is controlled by a first dimension of a bottom electrode and a second dimension controlled by an etch process. The contact area is a product of the first dimension and the second dimension. The method allows the formation of very small phase-change memory cells.
Claims7
A memory cell, comprising:
- a bit line disposed within a substrate;
- an isolation device formed above and making contact with the bit line;
- a bottom electrode formed above the isolation device, the bottom electrode comprising a bottom surface and a side wall, the bottom surface facing the bit line, wherein the side wall is substantially vertical to the bottom surface;
- and
- a phase-change material contacting only a part of the side wall of the bottom electrode directly.
2 more elements
An array of memory cells including bit lines disposed in a reference direction, word lines disposed in a direction other than the reference direction, and memory cells at intersections of bit lines and word lines, each memory cell comprising:
- a bottom electrode having a length equal to a first dimension, the bottom electrode being disposed between one of the word lines and one of the bit lines at one of the intersections, the bottom electrode comprising a bottom surface and a side wall, the bottom surface facing the bit line, wherein the side wall is substantially vertical to the bottom surface;
- and
- a phase-change material disposed beside the bottom electrode, the phase-change material contacting only a part of the side wall of the bottom electrode directly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.