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:
Mar. 01, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2012
Intermolecular Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Sandisk 3d Llc, Milpitas, CA (US);
Chien-Lan Hsueh, Campbell, CA (US);
Randall J. Higuchi, San Jose, CA (US);
Tim Minvielle, San Jose, CA (US);
Jinhong Tong, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Yun Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Takeshi Yamaguchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Intermolecular, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
SanDisk 3D LLC, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
Provided are resistive random access memory (ReRAM) cells having switching layers that include hafnium, aluminum, oxygen, and nitrogen. The composition of such layers is designed to achieve desirable performance characteristics, such as low current leakage as well as low and consistent switching currents. In some embodiments, the concentration of nitrogen in a switching layer is between about 1 and 20 atomic percent or, more specifically, between about 2 and 5 atomic percent. Addition of nitrogen helps to control concentration and distribution of defects in the switching layer. Also, nitrogen as well as a combination of two metals helps with maintaining this layer in an amorphous state. Excessive amounts of nitrogen reduce defects in the layer such that switching characteristics may be completely lost. The switching layer may be deposited using various techniques, such as sputtering or atomic layer deposition (ALD).