# US 8,045,364 B2 · Non-volatile memory device ion barrier

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- Number: US 8,045,364 B2
- Document ID: US8045364B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/653,838
- Filed: 2009-12-18
- Published: 2011-06-23
- Granted: 2011-10-25
- Earliest claimed: 2009-12-18
- Assignees: Unity Semiconductor Corporation
- Inventors: Lawrence Schloss; Rene Meyer; Wayne Kinney; Roy Lambertson; Julie Casperson Brewer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8045364B2

## CPC

- G11C 13/0007: {comprising metal oxide memory material, e.g. perovskites}
- H10B 63/20: {comprising selection components having two electrodes, e.g. diodes}
- H10B 63/22: {of the metal-insulator-metal type}
- H10B 63/82: {the switching components having a common active material layer}
- H10B 63/84: {arranged in a direction perpendicular to the substrate, e.g. 3D cell arrays}
- H10N 70/24: {based on migration or redistribution of ionic species, e.g. anions, vacancies}
- H10N 70/801: {Constructional details of multistable switching devices}
- H10N 70/826: {adapted for essentially vertical current flow, e.g. sandwich or pillar type devices}
- H10N 70/8833: {Binary metal oxides, e.g. TaOx}
- H10N 70/8836: {Complex metal oxides, e.g. perovskites, spinels}
- G11C 2213/31: Material having complex metal oxide, e.g. perovskite structure
- G11C 2213/32: Material having simple binary metal oxide structure
- G11C: STATIC STORES (semiconductor memory devices H10B)
- H10B: ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
- H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

An ion barrier layer made from a dielectric material in contact with an electronically insulating layer is operative to prevent mobile ions transported into the electronically insulating layer from passing through the ion barrier layer and into adjacent layers during data operations on a non-volatile memory cell. A conductive oxide layer in contact with the electronically insulating layer is the source of the mobile ions. A programming data operation is operative to transport a portion of the mobile ions into the electronically insulating layer and an erase data operation is operative to transport the mobile ions back into the conductive oxide layer. When the portion is positioned in the electronically insulating layer the memory cell stores data as a programmed conductivity profile and when a substantial majority of the mobile ions are positioned in the conductive oxide layer the memory cell stores data as an erased conductivity profile.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-volatile memory device, comprising:
a re-writeable non-volatile two-terminal memory element having a first terminal and a second terminal and configured to retain stored data in the absence of electrical power, the memory element including
a conductive oxide layer including mobile ions,
an electronically insulating layer in contact with the conductive oxide layer and having a first thickness and a first dielectric constant, the electronically insulating layer is permeable to the mobile ions, and
an ion barrier layer in contact with the electronically insulating layer and having a second thickness and a second dielectric constant, the ion barrier layer is not permeable to the mobile ions and is operative to prevent mobile ion transport through an interface where the ion barrier layer and the electronically insulating layer contact each other,
wherein a combined thickness of the ion barrier layer and the electronically insulating layer is approximately 50 Å or less, and
wherein the conductive oxide layer, the electronically insulating layer, and the ion barrier layer are electrically in series with one another and with the first and second terminals.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive perovskite material.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive binary oxide material.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the first thickness and the second thickness are approximately equal to each other.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the second thickness is less than the first thickness.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the second thickness is greater than the first thickness.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the electronically insulating layer is configured as an electrolytic tunnel barrier layer operative to facilitate electron tunneling at voltages for data operations applied across the ion barrier layer and the conductive oxide layer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the combined thickness is approximately 35 Å or less.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the electronically insulating layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of yttria-stabilized zirconia, zirconia, hafnium oxide, gadolinium oxide, and erbium oxide.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the ion barrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, and lanthanum aluminum oxide.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1 and further comprising:
a first electrically conductive material in contact with the conductive oxide layer and operative as the first terminal; and
a second electrically conductive material in contact with the ion barrier layer and operative as the second terminal.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The memory device of claim 11, wherein a selected one or both of the first electrically conductive material or the second electrically conductive material comprise an electrode.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The memory device of claim 11, wherein the conductive oxide layer, the electronically insulating layer, and the ion barrier layer are electrically coupled with active circuitry fabricated on a substrate, and
wherein the conductive oxide layer, the electronically insulating layer, and the ion barrier layer are fabricated directly above the substrate and vertically positioned over the active circuitry.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the second dielectric constant of the ion barrier layer is greater than the first dielectric constant of the electronically insulating layer.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the first dielectric constant of the electronically insulating layer is greater than the second dielectric constant of the ion barrier layer.

### Claim 16

A memory device storing non-volatile data as a programmed conductivity profile, comprising:
a re-writeable non-volatile two-terminal memory cell configured to retain stored data in the absence of electrical power and including electrically in series with one another
a first electrically conductive material,
a conductive oxide layer including mobile ions and in contact with the first electrically conductive material,
an electronically insulating layer in contact with the conductive oxide layer at a first interface and having a first thickness and a first dielectric constant, the electronically insulating layer is permeable to the mobile ions and a portion of the mobile ions are positioned in the electronically insulating layer,
an ion barrier layer in contact with the electronically insulating layer at a second interface and having a second thickness and a second dielectric constant, a combined thickness of the ion barrier layer and the electronically insulating layer is approximately 50 Å or less, the ion barrier layer is not permeable to the mobile ions and is operative to prevent transport of the mobile ions through the second interface, and
a second electrically conductive material in contact with the ion barrier layer at a third interface, and
wherein a majority of the portion of the mobile ions in the electronically insulating layer are approximately positioned in a region in the electronically insulating layer that is above the first interface by a first distance.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the first and second electrically conductive materials are electrically coupled with active circuitry fabricated on a substrate, and wherein the memory cell is fabricated directly above the substrate and vertically positioned over the active circuitry.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the electronically insulating layer is configured as an electrolytic tunnel barrier layer operative to facilitate electron tunneling at voltages for data operations applied across the first and second electrically conductive materials.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive perovskite material.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive binary oxide material.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the electronically insulating layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of yttria-stabilized zirconia, zirconia, hafnium oxide, gadolinium oxide, and erbium oxide.

### Claim 22 (depends on 14)

The memory device of claim 14, wherein the ion barrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, and lanthanum aluminum oxide.

### Claim 23

A memory device storing non-volatile data as an erased conductivity profile, comprising:
a re-writeable non-volatile two-terminal memory cell configured to retain stored data in the absence of electrical power and including electrically in series with one another
a first electrically conductive material,
a conductive oxide layer including mobile ions and in contact with the first electrically conductive material,
an electronically insulating layer in contact with the conductive oxide layer at a first interface and having a first thickness and a first dielectric constant, the electronically insulating layer is permeable to the mobile ions,
an ion barrier layer in contact with the electronically insulating layer at a second interface and having a second thickness and a second dielectric constant, a combined thickness of the ion barrier layer and the electronically insulating layer is approximately 50 Å or less, the ion barrier layer is not permeable to the mobile ions and is operative to prevent transport of the mobile ions through the second interface, and
a second electrically conductive material in contact with the ion barrier layer at a third interface, and
wherein a majority of the mobile ions are positioned below the first interface in the conductive oxide layer.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the first and second electrically conductive materials are electrically coupled with active circuitry fabricated on a substrate, and wherein the memory cell is fabricated directly above the substrate and vertically positioned over the active circuitry.

### Claim 25 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the electronically insulating layer is configured as an electrolytic tunnel barrier layer operative to facilitate electron tunneling at voltages for data operations applied across the first and second electrically conductive materials.

### Claim 26 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive perovskite material.

### Claim 27 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the conductive oxide layer comprises an electrically conductive binary oxide material.

### Claim 28 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the electronically insulating layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of yttria-stabilized zirconia, zirconia, hafnium oxide, gadolinium oxide, and erbium oxide.

### Claim 29 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the ion barrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, and lanthanum aluminum oxide.

### Claim 30 (depends on 1)

The memory device of claim 1, wherein the mobile ions comprise mobile oxygen ions.

### Claim 31 (depends on 16)

The memory device of claim 16, wherein the mobile ions comprise mobile oxygen ions.

### Claim 32 (depends on 23)

The memory device of claim 23, wherein the mobile ions comprise mobile oxygen ions.