International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Globalfoundries U.S. 2 LLC

Byeongju Park

Chandrasekharan Kothandaraman

Deok-Kee Kim

John Matthew Safran

Subramanian Srikanteswara Iyer

Laertis Economikos

Jack Allan Mandelman

Toshiharu Furukawa

Peter A Emmi

Alberto Cestero

William R Tonti

Dennis Merton Newns

Bruce Gordon Elmegreen

Lia Krusin-Elbaum

Dan Moy

Carl John Radens

Chung H Lam

Arne Watson Ballantine

Sampath Purushothaman

Jack Oon Chu

Gary Bela Bronner

Rajarao Jammy

Richard Anthony Conti

Johnathan E Faltermeier

William K Henson

Anil Kumar Chinthakindi

Ashima B Chakravarti

Basanth Jagannathan

Ryan Wayne Wuthrich

Hoki Kim

Neena Garg

Karanam Balasubramanyam

Yongsang Cho

Donald L Wilson

Serge Biesemans

Martin E Schrems

Kuang-Neng Chen

Chandrasekheran Kothandaraman

Michael J Gambero

Walter J Frey

The present invention provides antifuse structures having an integrated heating element and methods of programming the same, the antifuse structures comprising first and second conductors and a dielectric layer formed between the conductors, where one or both of the conductors functions as both a conventional antifuse conductor and as a heating element for directly heating the antifuse dielectric layer during programming.

Three-terminal antifuse structure having integrated heating elements for a programmable circuit

An antifuse having a link including a region of unsilicided semiconductor material may be programmed at reduced voltage and current and with reduced generation of heat by electromigration of metal or silicide from a cathode into the region of unsilicided semiconductor material to form an alloy having reduced bulk resistance. The cathode and anode are preferably shaped to control regions from which and to which material is electrically migrated. After programming, additional electromigration of material can return the antifuse to a high resistance state. The process by which the antifuse is fabricated is completely compatible with fabrication of field effect transistors and the antifuse may be advantageously formed on isolation structures.

Method of programming electrical antifuse

Electrical antifuse

Antifuse structure having an integrated heating element

Four-terminal antifuse structure having integrated heating elements for a programmable circuit

An integrated eFUSE device is formed by forming a silicon 'floating beam' on air, whereupon the fusible portion of the eFUSE device resides. This beam extends between two larger, supporting terminal structures. 'Undercutting' techniques are employed whereby a structure is formed atop a buried layer, and that buried layer is removed by selective etching. Whereby a &#x201c;floating&#x201d; silicide eFUSE conductor is formed on a silicon beam structure. In its initial state, the eFUSE silicide is highly conductive, exhibiting low electrical resistance (the &#x201c;unblown state of the eFUSE). When a sufficiently large current is passed through the eFUSE conductor, localized heating occurs. This heating causes electromigration of the silicide into the silicon beam (and into surrounding silicon, thereby diffusing the silicide and greatly increasing its electrical resistance. When the current source is removed, the silicide remains permanently in this diffused state, the &#x201c;blown&#x201d; state of the eFUSE.

Single crystal fuse on air in bulk silicon

The present invention provides an electrical fuse structure for achieving a post-programming resistance distribution with higher resistance values and to enhance the reliability of electrical fuse programming. A partly doped electrical fuse structure with undoped semiconductor material in the cathode combined with P-doped semiconductor material in the fuselink and anode is disclosed and the data supporting the superior performance of the disclosed electrical fuse is shown.

Electrical fuse structure for higher post-programming resistance

The present invention provides structures for an integrated antifuse that incorporates an integrated sensing transistor with an integrated heater. Two terminals connected to the upper plate allow the heating of the upper plate, accelerating the breakdown of the antifuse dielectric at a lower bias voltage. Part of the upper plate also serves as the gate of the integrated sensing transistor. The antifuse dielectric serves as the gate dielectric of the integrated transistor. The lower plate comprises a channel, a drain, and a source of a transistor. While intact, the integrated sensing transistor allows a passage of transistor current through the drain. When programmed, the antifuse dielectric, which is the gate of the integrated transistor, is subjected to a gate breakdown, shorting the gate to the channel and resulting in a decreased drain current. The integrated antifuse structure can also be wired in an array to provide a compact OTP memory array.

Transistor based antifuse with integrated heating element

The present invention provides structures for antifuses that utilize electromigration for programming. By providing a portion of antifuse link with high resistance without conducting material and then by inducing electromigration of the conducting material into the antifuse link, the resistance of the antifuse structure is changed. By providing a terminal on the antifuse link, the change in the electrical properties of the antifuse link is detected and sensed. Also disclosed are an integrated antifuse with a built-in sensing device and a two dimensional array of integrated antifuses that can share programming transistors and sensing circuitry.

Electrical antifuse with integrated sensor

A fuse structure, a method for fabricating the fuse structure and a method for programming a fuse within the fuse structure each use a fuse material layer that is used as a fuse, and located upon a monocrystalline semiconductor material layer in turn located over a substrate. At least part of the monocrystalline semiconductor material layer is separated from the substrate by a gap. Use of the monocrystalline semiconductor material layer, as well as the gap, provides for enhanced uniformity and reproducibility when programming the fuse.

Fuse structure including monocrystalline semiconductor material layer and gap

Method of manufacturing an electrical antifuse

A programmable phase change material (PCM) structure includes a heater element formed at a BEOL level of a semiconductor device, the BEOL level including a low-K dielectric material therein; a first via in electrical contact with a first end of the heater element and a second via in electrical contact with a second end of the heater element, thereby defining a programming current path which passes through the first via, the heater element, and the second via; a PCM element disposed above the heater element, the PCM element configured to be programmed between a lower resistance crystalline state and a higher resistance amorphous state through the use of programming currents through the heater element; and a third via in electrical contact with the PCM element, thereby defining a sense current path which passes through the third via, the PCM element, the heater element, and the second via.

Programmable fuse/non-volatile memory structures in BEOL regions using externally heated phase change material

An electrical fuse programming circuit and a method for programming an electrical fuse within the electrical fuse programming circuit use a programming circuit bus to which are electrically connected in parallel the electrical fuse and a bypass resistor. A current within the programming circuit bus is made to flow through the bypass resistor for a period of time sufficient to stabilize the current, and then sequentially and instantaneously switched to program the electrical fuse.

Programming current stabilized electrical fuse programming circuit and method

A programmable phase change material (PCM) structure includes a heater element formed at a transistor gate level of a semiconductor device, the heater element further including a pair of electrodes connected by a thin wire structure with respect to the electrodes, the heater element configured to receive programming current passed therethrough, a layer of phase change material disposed on top of a portion of the thin wire structure, and sensing circuitry configured to sense the resistance of the phase change material.

Programmable fuse/non-volatile memory structures using externally heated phase change material

A method for programming an electronically programmable semiconductor fuse applies a programming current to a fuse link as a series of multiple pulses. The fuse link has a nominal maximum programming current and corresponding combinations of a programming voltage and a gate voltage associated with the nominal maximum programming current. A first programming current pulse is generated to provide a programming current less than the maximum programming current. The first programming current pulse causes electromigration to increase the resistance of the fuse link. A subsequent programming current pulse is applied using a combination of gate voltage and programming voltages which if applied to the fuse link absent any electromigration would result in a programming current greater than the nominal maximum programming current. However, the resistance created by the first programming pulse reduces the programming current of the subsequent programming pulse to a level below the maximum programming current.

Method for programming an electronically programmable semiconductor fuse

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Plainview, NY, United States of America

Byeongju Park