ENHANCING NUCLEATION IN PHASE-CHANGE MEMORY CELLS

摘要

Various embodiments disclosed herein comprise methods and apparatuses for placing phase-change memory (PCM) cells of a memory array into a temperature regime where nucleation probability of the PCM cells is enhanced prior to applying a subsequent SET programming signal. In one embodiment, the method includes applying a nucleation signal to the PCM cells to form nucleation sites within the memory array where the nucleation signal has a non-zero rising-edge. A programming signal is subsequently applied to achieve a desired level of crystallinity within selected ones of the plurality of PCM cells. Additional methods and apparatuses are also described.

主权项

1. A method of programming a plurality of phase-change memory (PCM) cells within a memory array, the method comprising:
applying a nucleation signal to the PCM cells to form nucleation sites within the memory array, the nucleation signal having a non-zero rising-edge, the non-zero rising-edge of the nucleation signal occurring over a time period longer than 10 nanoseconds; and subsequently applying a programming signal to achieve a desired level of crystallinity within selected ones of the plurality of PCM cells.