| US 7,514,705 B2 | ||
| Phase change memory cell with limited switchable volume | ||
| Matthew J. Breitwisch, Yorktown Heights, N.Y. (US); Chung Hon Lam, Peekskill, N.Y. (US); Jan Boris Philipp, Peekskill, N.Y. (US); Stephen M. Rossnagel, Pleasantville, N.Y. (US); and Alejandro Gabriel Schrott, New York, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Filed on Apr. 25, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/410,466. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0246748 A1, Oct. 25, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. H01L 47/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 257—2 [257/4; 257/5] | 13 Claims |
| 1. A memory cell comprising:
a dielectric layer, the dielectric layer defining a trench having a wide portion and a narrow portion, the narrow portion
substantially narrower than the wide portion; and
a phase change material, the phase change material at least partially filling the wide and narrow portions of the trench,
and the phase change material within the narrow portion defining a void;
wherein a portion of the phase change material is operative to switch between lower and higher electrical resistance states
in response to an application of a pulse of electrical current to the memory cell.
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