The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 17, 2020
Filed:
May. 14, 2019
Sandisk Technologies Llc, Addison, TX (US);
Zhaoqiang Bai, San Jose, CA (US);
Mac D. Apodaca, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael K. Grobis, Campbell, CA (US);
Michael Nicolas Albert Tran, San Jose, CA (US);
Neil Leslie Robertson, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Gerardo A. Bertero, Redwood City, CA (US);
SanDisk Technologies LLC, Addison, TX (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods for improving the crystallization of a phase change material of a phase change memory cell are described. A two-step SET pulse may be applied to the phase change material in which a first lower SET pulse is applied to make the phase change material dwell at 600K to incubate nuclei near the maximum nucleation rate and then a second higher SET pulse is immediately applied to make the phase change material dwell at 720K to maximize crystal growth. Moreover, the slope of the falling edge of a RESET pulse applied prior to the two-step SET pulse may be adjusted to increase the number of nuclei (e.g., formed with a steeper falling edge) to increase SET efficiency at the expense of a more stable amorphous phase (e.g., formed with a less steep falling edge) that improves data retention.