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:
Aug. 31, 2010
Filed:
May. 26, 2006
Thomas D. Happ, Tarrytown, NY (US);
Cay-uwe Pinnow, Munich, DE;
Ralf Symanczyk, Munich, DE;
Klaus-dieter Ufert, Unterschleissheim, DE;
Thomas D. Happ, Tarrytown, NY (US);
Cay-Uwe Pinnow, Munich, DE;
Ralf Symanczyk, Munich, DE;
Klaus-Dieter Ufert, Unterschleissheim, DE;
Qimonda AG, Munich, DE;
Abstract
An integrated semiconductor memory includes a storage medium () arranged between two electrodes (), which storage medium may be a phase change medium, for example. The storage medium () can be put into a first state or a second state by means of an electric current, as a result of which an item of information can be stored. According to embodiments of the invention, a layer plane (L) is provided in which impurity particles made from a material () are embedded, as a result of which the current density in the storage medium is locally increased and the programming current required for reprogramming is reduced. As a result, the current consumption of memory elements containing a phase change medium is reduced, so that for the first time they can be embodied with minimal feature size, together with other components such as transistors, and integrated into a single semiconductor circuit and no longer have to be arranged in separate subcircuits.