Phase change memory thermal management with electrocaloric effect materials
AssigneeEmpire Technology Development LLC
InventorEzekiel Kruglick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Technologies are generally described herein for managing heat within a phase change memory (PCM) structure utilizing electrocaloric effect materials. Some example PCM structures may include an electrocaloric effect material layer thermally coupled to an array of PCM cells. The electrocaloric effect material layer may be segmented so that activation of each segment is coordinated with a subset of the PCM cells within the array. While excess heat emanates from a PCM cell during memory operations, a corresponding electrocaloric effect material segment may be activated to decrease the thermal resistance of the electrocaloric effect material, which transfers the excess heat away from the neighboring PCM cells.
Claims20
A phase change memory (PCM) thermal management system, comprising:
- a plurality of PCM cells, each reconfigurable between a first state and a second state via application of thermal energy;
- at least one electrocaloric effect material segment thermally coupled to at least one PCM cell included in the plurality of PCM cells;
- at least two electrodes positioned to apply a field across the at least one electrocaloric effect material segment in response to application of a signal across the at least two electrodes;
- and
- a controller operative to control the application of the field across the at least two electrodes in coordination with a state change of the at least one PCM cell.
A method to manage excess heat within a phase change memory (PCM) structure, the method comprising:
- providing, by a controller, a phase change signal to a PCM cell;
- in response to the phase change signal, increasing a temperature within the PCM cell such that excess heat emanates from the PCM cell;
- applying, by a controller, a field in coordination with the phase change signal to an electrocaloric effect material segment thermally coupled to the PCM cell;
- in response to applying the field to the electrocaloric effect material segment, transferring the excess heat to the electrocaloric effect material segment.
A phase change memory (PCM) thermal management system, comprising:
- an array of PCM cells arranged according to rows and columns, wherein each PCM cell of the array of PCM cells is reconfigurable between a first state and a second state via application of thermal energy;
- a plurality of electrocaloric effect material segments, wherein each electrocaloric effect material segment of the plurality of electrocaloric effect material segments is thermally coupled to either a row or column of PCM cells within the array of PCM cells;
- at least two electrodes positioned to apply a field across each electrocaloric effect material segment;
- and
- a controller coupled to the at least two electrodes and configured to coordinate the application of the field across an electrocaloric effect material segment of the plurality of electrocaloric effect material segments with application of a phase change signal to a PCM cell of the array of PCM cells, wherein the PCM cell is in thermal contact with the electrocaloric effect material segment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.