NON-VOLATILE PROGRAMMABLE DEVICE INCLUDING PHASE CHANGE LAYER AND FABRICATING METHOD THEREOF
Provided is a non-volatile programmable device including a first terminal, a first threshold switching layer connected to part of the first terminal, a phase change layer connected to the first threshold switching layer, a second threshold switching layer connected to the phase change layer, a second terminal connected to the second threshold switching layer, and third and fourth terminals respectively connected to a side portion of the phase change layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer.
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This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0128176, filed on Dec. 16, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a programmable logic device and a method of manufacturing the programmable logic device, and more particularly, to a non-volatile programmable device included in a programmable logic device and a method of manufacturing the non-volatile programmable device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A programmable logic device (PLD), such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic array (PLA), a programmable array logic (PAL), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and so forth, is an electronic component which is manufactured with no fixed function but obtains a particular function according to programming by a user. In particular, due to continuous improvement of the performance and the reduced manufacturing costs of the PLD, FPGAs are widely used in digital devices such as plasma display panels (PDPs) or liquid crystal display televisions (LCD TVs) or portable devices such as camcorders and Blue-ray disks.
In detail, the general PLD 200 includes a logic block 220, a programmable switch device 210, and interconnect wires 230. The PLD 200 includes the programmable switch device 210 that connects the logic block 220 to the interconnect wires 230 or connects the interconnect wires 230 according to programming by a user. Examples of the programmable switch device 210 include a fuse, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a flash memory, etc.
In detail, the SRAM 210a corresponds to a switch device 210 in programmable logic devices 200 of
In detail, the flash memory 210b corresponds to a switch device 210 in programmable logic devices 200 of
However, the flash memory 210b has poorer operation frequency characteristics than the SRAM 210a and is manufactured with a different process than a standard CMOS process. In addition, when a flash memory 210b is used as a switch 210, data change errors or failure in a circuit may occur due to radiation by heavy ions or high-energy protons.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a programmable device that has non-volatile characteristics, is resistant to radiation, and is realizable not only as a switch but also as a memory, in order to overcome the disadvantages of a static random access memory (SRAM) or a flash memory.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-volatile programmable device comprising: a first terminal; a first threshold switching layer connected to the first terminal; a phase change layer connected to the first threshold switching layer; a second threshold switching layer connected to the phase change layer; a second terminal connected to the second threshold switching layer; and a third terminal and a fourth terminal respectively connected to a side portion of the phase change layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer.
The phase change layer may be formed of a chalcogenide including one of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), or an antimony compound including antimony (Sb). The first threshold switching layer or the second threshold switching layer may be formed of a chalcogenide that includes one of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), and that further includes arsenic (As) or phosphorus (P). The non-volatile programmable device may further comprise a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a source/drain terminal connected to the third terminal or the fourth terminal and a gate terminal connected to the second terminal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-volatile programmable device comprising: a first terminal; a first threshold switching layer, a phase change layer, a second threshold switching layer, and a second terminal sequentially formed on the first terminal; and a third terminal and a fourth terminal respectively connected to a side portion of the phase change layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer, wherein an electrical pulse is supplied to the phase change layer through the first terminal, the first threshold switching layer, the second threshold switching layer, and the second terminal generate a reversible phase change of the phase change layer and control an electric signal that moves through the third terminal, the phase change layer, and the fourth terminal.
The first threshold switching layer and the second threshold switching layer may be formed of a threshold switching material. The phase change layer may be formed of a material that changes reversibly between an amorphous state and a crystalline state according to the amount of applied current.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-volatile programmable device comprising: a first metal layer formed on a semiconductor substrate; a first threshold switching layer formed on part of the first metal layer; and a second metal layer formed on the first metal layer and the first threshold switching layer. A phase change layer may be formed through the second metal layer and the insulating layer and connected to the first threshold switching layer, a second threshold switching layer may be formed on the phase change layer. A third metal layer that is connected to the first metal layer and to the first threshold switching layer may be formed. A fourth metal layer may be formed on the second threshold switching layer. Accordingly, the third metal layer and the fourth metal layer may be first and second terminals connected to the first threshold switching layer and the second threshold switching layer, respectively, and a side portion of the second metal layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the second metal layer may be third and fourth terminals which are respectively connected to the phase change layer.
The non-volatile programmable device according to the present invention uses a phase change layer and thus has high resistance to radiation, is non-volatile, and has good repetitive writing characteristics.
The non-volatile programmable device according to the present invention uses a phase change phenomenon which occurs very fast, thereby increasing the operational speed of the programmable device.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
A programmable logic device (PLD) includes at least one logic block, a programmable device, and interconnect wires in the present invention. Especially, the PLD includes the programmable device, e.g., a programmable switch device, that connects the logic block to the interconnect wires or connects the interconnect wires according to programming by a user.
According to the present invention, a phase change material (phase change layer) is used in the programmable device. A crystalline state and the electrical resistance of the phase change material vary according to an electrical pulse input, and the phase change material has non-volatility that the electrical resistance of the phase change material is maintained until an electrical pulse is inputted. Also, until the temperature of the phase change material is increased to a crystallization temperature or a melting point, neither a phase change nor a resistance change occurs, and thus, the phase change material has high resistance to radiation.
Some of the phase change material such as chalcogenide including chaloogen elements, e.g., sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), or an antimony compound including antimony (Sb) shows a switching behavior that an electrical resistance changes according to an voltage input or a current input. The switching behavior may be classified as threshold switching and memory switching.
The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements.
In detail, threshold switching refers to an instant decrease in electrical resistance at a predetermined voltage; a low resistance of several hundreds of ohms is maintained while an electrical field at a critical voltage value (Vth) or greater is applied, but as soon as the electric field is removed, the electrical resistance returns to a high resistance of several mega (M) ohms. Accordingly, an identical current (I)-voltage (V) curve is obtained both at a first sweep as illustrated in
In detail, as described above, some of the materials that show threshold switching also show memory switching due to a phase change. When memory switching occurs, a lowered resistance is maintained further than threshold switching, even when the electric field is removed. That is, while
When an electric field is applied and threshold switching occurs, a high current flows due to the lowered resistance and thus Joule heat is generated accordingly. When the temperature of a phase change material such as a chalcogenide is increased higher than a crystallization temperature due to the Joule heat, memory switching, in which a crystalline structure of the phase change material changes from an amorphous state at a high resistance to a crystalline state at a low resistance, occurs.
Whether or not there is an electric field, the resistance lowered by the memory switching is maintained for a considerable period of time, and this is a feature of the non-volatile programmable device. Reversible conversions between a low resistance state, that is, a set state, and a high resistance state, that is, a reset state, of a phase change material having a memory switching behavior are possible by inputting an appropriate electrical pulse to the phase change material.
In particular, to generate a reset state, a high electrical pulse is applied for a shorter time than when memory switching is conducted at a resistance of a phase change material, which is lowered by the memory switching, and then the temperature of the phase change material is increased higher than a melting point and thus the phase change material is changed into a liquid. After the electrical pulse is completely applied, the liquid crystalline state of the phase change material is maintained over time and the phase change material is cooled, and thus the phase change material stays in an amorphous state at the end. In order to obtain a reset state, a phase change material needs to be melted and an amorphous state needs to be obtained by quenching, and thus a high electrical pulse needs to be applied for a shorter time than when obtaining a set state.
As described above, some of the chalcogenides including chalcogen elements (e.g., S, Se, and Te) or the antimony compound including antimony (Sb) show two kinds of switching, that is, threshold switching where a high resistance changes to a low resistance according to an electrical pulse, and memory switching where phase transition occurs.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a four-terminal programmable device, including a structure in which a first threshold switching layer, a phase change layer, and a second threshold switching layer are stacked, is realized as will be described below. The programmable device according to the present embodiment may be realized as a programmable switch device as described above. Also, the programmable device according to the present embodiment may be realized as a memory device including a phase change layer and having a memory function.
In detail, the non-volatile programmable device 410 that uses the phase change layer 121, according to the current embodiment of the present invention, includes a first terminal 131 (N1), a first threshold switching layer 111 connected to the first terminal 131, the phase change layer 121 formed on the first threshold switching layer 111, a second terminal 133 (N2) connected to a second threshold switching layer 123 that is formed on the phase change layer 121, and a third terminal 115a (N3) and a fourth terminal 115b (N4) connected to both sides of the phase change layer 121, that is, to a side portion of the phase change layer 121 and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer 121. As described above, when an electric field of a critical value or greater is applied to the first threshold switching layer 111 and the second threshold switching layer 123, threshold switching characteristics that an electrical resistance is decreased temporarily occur. Also, when an electric field is applied to the first and second threshold switching layers 111 and 123, the electrical resistance of the first is and second threshold switching layers 111 and 123 is decreased, and when the electric field is not applied, the electrical resistance thereof returns to the original electrical resistance.
The first threshold switching layer 111 and the second threshold switching layer 123 are formed of a chalcogenide that includes S, Se, or Te, and further includes arsenic (As) or phosphorus (P). In other words, some of the chalcogenides that include As or P have threshold switching characteristics because As or P forms a number of strong crosslinks in the chalcogenides. The first threshold switching layer 111 and the second threshold switching layer 123 may be formed of AsTe, AsSiTe, AsGeTe, AsGeSiTe, or AsGeSiPTe.
The phase change layer 121 is a reversible material that is convertible between an amorphous state and a crystalline state according to the amount of applied current. According to the current embodiment, the phase change layer 121 is formed of a chalcogenide including S, Se, or Te, or an antimony compound including Sb. Examples of the chalcogenide of the phase change layer 121 include GeTe, SbTe, SiTe, SbSe, InSe, GeSbTe, SiSbTe, InSbTe, GaSeTe, SnSbTe, GeSiSbTe, GeSnSbTe, GeSbSeTe, and AginSbTe. Examples of the antimony compound of the phase change layer 121 include GeSb and ZnSb.
A phase change of the phase change layer 121 is generated through programming or writing by applying an electrical pulse through the first terminal 131 (N1) and the second terminal 133 (N2). When the phase change layer 121 is in a set state, since the resistance of the phase change layer 121 is low, the non-volatile programmable device 410 is on and a signal is transmitted through the third terminal 115a (N3) and the fourth terminal 115b (N4). When the phase change layer 121 is in a reset state, since the resistance of the phase change layer 121 is high, the programmable device 410 is turned off and the transmission of a signal through the third terminal 115a (N3) and the fourth terminal 115b (N4) is blocked.
For example, when the phase change layer 121 is formed of Ge2Sb2Te5, the resistance of the phase change layer 121 is several hundreds of ohms or less in a set state, and the resistance of the phase change layer 121 is several M ohms or greater in a reset state, and thus a phase change switch formed of Ge2Sb2Te5 can transmit or block a signal. Also, the non-volatile programmable device 410 according to the current embodiment may operate as a memory according to a set state or a reset state of the phase change layer 121.
The first and second threshold switching layers 111 and 123 prevent signal leaks through the first terminal 131 (N1) or the second terminal 133 (N2) which is used in programming. Since the first and second threshold switching layers 111 and 123 perform threshold switching and become conductive only when an electric field of a critical value or greater Is applied as described above, even when there is a voltage difference between the third terminal 11 5a (N3) and the fourth terminal 115b (N4), a resistance of several M ohms is maintained and the leakage of signals is prevented.
For programming, a voltage that is greater than a total of critical voltages for threshold switching of each of the first threshold switching layer 111, the phase change layer 121, and the second threshold switching layer 123 is applied to the first terminal 131 (N1) and the second terminal 133 (N2) to generate a phase change in the phase change layer 121. A critical voltage for threshold switching is proportional to the thickness of a switching material; thus an appropriate value of the critical value may be determined by adjusting the thickness of the switching material.
In detail, the non-volatile programmable device 420 is formed of two metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors 430 and 440 connected to the non-volatile programmable device 410 of
Like in the embodiment of
Referring to
A first threshold switching material layer 107 is formed on the first metal material layer 105. When an electric field is applied, the electrical resistance of the first threshold switching material layer 107 is reduced, and when the electric field is not applied, the electrical resistance returns to the original electrical resistance. The first threshold switching material layer 107 includes S, Se, or Te, and is formed of a chalcogenide including As or P.
Referring to
Referring to
Next, a phase change layer 121 is formed in the contact hole 119 and to cover a part of the third insulating layer 117, and a second threshold switching layer 123 is formed on the phase change layer 121. The second threshold switching layer 123 conducts the same function as the first threshold switching layer 1 11 and is formed using the same material as the first threshold switching layer 111. The phase change layer 121 and the second threshold switching layer 123 are formed by forming a phase change material layer (not shown) and a second threshold switching material layer (not shown) and then patterning the same. The phase change layer 121 is formed of a material that is reversibly convertible between an amorphous state and a crystalline state according to the amount of applied current.
According to the current embodiment of the present invention, the phase change layer 121 is formed of a chalcogenide including S, Se, or Te or an antimony compound including antimony (Sb). Examples of the chalcogenide include GeTe, SbTe, SiTe, SbSe, InSe, GeSbTe, SiSbTe, InSbTe, GaSeTe, SnSbTe, GeSiSbTe, GeSnSbTe, GeSbSeTe, and AginSbTe. Examples of the antimony compound include GeSb and ZnSb.
Referring to
Next, third and fourth metal layers 131 and 133 are formed in the via holes 127 and 129 using the same material and the same method as the first metal layer 109 and the second metal layer 115. The third and fourth metal layers 131 and 133 are formed by forming a metal material layer (not shown) in the via holes 127 and 129 and patterning the same. In the non-volatile programmable device 410, the third metal layer 131 connected to the first metal layer 109 is a first terminal (N1). The fourth metal layer 133 connected to the second threshold switching layer 123 is a second terminal (N2). Referring to
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A non-volatile programmable device comprising:
- a first terminal;
- a first threshold switching layer connected to the first terminal;
- a phase change layer connected to the first threshold switching layer;
- a second threshold switching layer connected to the phase change layer;
- a second terminal connected to the second threshold switching layer; and
- a third terminal and a fourth terminal respectively connected to a side portion of the phase change layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer.
2. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 1, wherein the phase change layer is formed of a chalcogenide including one of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), or an antimony compound including antimony (Sb).
3. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 1, wherein the first threshold switching layer or the second threshold switching layer is formed of a chalcogenide that includes one of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), and that further includes arsenic (As) or phosphorus (P).
4. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 1, further comprising a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a source/drain terminal connected to the third terminal or the fourth terminal and a gate terminal connected to the second terminal.
5. A non-volatile programmable device comprising:
- a first terminal;
- a first threshold switching layer, a phase change layer, a second threshold switching layer, and a second terminal sequentially formed on the first terminal; and
- a third terminal and a fourth terminal respectively connected to a side portion of the phase change layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the phase change layer,
- wherein an electrical pulse is supplied to the phase change layer through the first terminal, the first threshold switching layer, the second threshold switching layer, and the second terminal generate a reversible phase change of the phase change layer and control an electric signal that moves through the third terminal, the phase change layer, and the fourth terminal.
6. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 5, wherein the first threshold switching layer and the second threshold switching layer are formed of a threshold switching material.
7. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 5, wherein the phase change layer is formed of a material that changes reversibly between an amorphous state and a crystalline state according to the amount of applied current.
8. A non-volatile programmable device comprising:
- a first metal layer formed on a semiconductor substrate;
- a first threshold switching layer formed on part of the first metal layer;
- a second metal layer formed on the first metal layer and the first threshold switching layer, wherein an insulating layer is interposed between the first metal layer and the first threshold switching layer, and the second metal layer;
- a phase change layer formed through the second metal layer and the insulating layer, and connected to the first threshold switching layer;
- a second threshold switching layer formed on the phase change layer;
- a third metal layer that is connected to the first metal layer and to the first threshold switching layer; and
- a fourth metal layer formed on the second threshold switching layer,
- wherein the third metal layer and the fourth metal layer are first and second terminals connected to the first threshold switching layer and the second threshold switching layer, respectively, and a side portion of the second metal layer and the other side portion opposite to the side portion of the second metal layer are third and fourth terminals which are respectively connected to the phase change layer.
9. The non-volatile programmable device of claim 8, further comprising a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a source/drain terminal connected to the third and fourth terminal and a gate terminal connected to the second terminal.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 25, 2009
Publication Date: Jun 17, 2010
Applicant: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (Daejeon-city)
Inventors: Seung Yun Lee (Daejeon-city), Young Sam Park (Daejeon-city), Sung Min Yoon (Daejeon-city), Soonwon Jung (Daejeon-city), Sang Hoon Cheon (Daejeon-city), Byoung Gon Yu (Daejeon-city)
Application Number: 12/491,465
International Classification: H01L 47/00 (20060101);