TiWOx interfacial layer for current reduction and cyclability enhancement of phase change memory

TiWOx interfacial layer was proposed and implemented to act as both heater and inter-diffusion barrier for phase change memory through a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor compatible oxidization process. Significant reduction of RESET current was obtained due to more efficient Joule heating and better thermal confinement. About one order of magnitude endurance increase was achieved for the device with TiWOx due to suppression of inter-diffusion between Ge2Sb2Te5 and TiW. The change of the minimum RESET voltage against cycling was reduced by TiWOx layer with shorter RESET pulse, which would benefit device cyclability.