THERMAL EXPANSION OF PHASE-CHANGE RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY CELLS

Three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) is used to solve the thermal strain-stress fields of phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) cells. Simulation results show that thermal stress concentrates at the interfaces between electrodes and phase change layer and it is significantly larger than that within the phase change layer. It has been found that the peak thermal stress is linearly related to the voltage of electrical pulse in the reset process but once amorphous state is produced in the cell, a nonlinear relationship between thermal stress and electrical power exists. This paper reported the change of thermal stress during set process. It was found that the stress decreases significantly due to the amorphous active region during set processes.