Phase change memory element and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a phase change memory element and a manufacturing method thereof. The phase change memory element comprises a bottom electrode, nano particles, an insulating layer, a phase change layer and a top electrode, wherein the nano particles are positioned on the upper surface of the bottom electrode; the insulating layer is formed in a region which is not covered by the nano particles on the upper surface of the bottom electrode; the phase change layer is formed on the nano particles and the insulating layer and positioned right above the bottom electrode; the top electrode is formed on the phase change layer and aligned to the bottom electrode; and the nano particles are used for electrically connecting the bottom electrode with the phase change layer. According to the phase change memory element and the manufacturing method thereof, the contact area between the bottom electrode and the phase change layer can be effectively reduced, and the heating efficiency of the bottom electrode on the phase change layer is improved, so that the read-write rate of the phase change memory element is improved.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing process, in particular to a phase-change memory element and a manufacturing method thereof. Background technique [0002] Phase-change materials (such as Ge-Sb-Te phase-change materials) change their phase states into crystalline and amorphous states through local heating caused by electrical pulses. Phase-change memory elements are semiconductor devices that use this feature to store binary information. . The phase-change memory element is a resistance-based memory. The phase-change material exhibits low-resistance and high-resistance resistance characteristics through the transition between crystalline and amorphous states to achieve the purpose of storing binary information. In the phase change memory element, the memory element storing binary information includes a phase change layer and electrodes. [0003] figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art phase change memory elemen...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Usually the width of the top of the hole formed by etching is larger than the width of the bottom, resulting in the formed bottom electrode being in an inverted trumpet shape, so it is difficult to further reduce the contact area between the bottom electrode and the phase change layer

In addition, due to the limitation of the exposure limit of the lithography machine, it is impossible to define the bottom electrode that meets the process requirements only by lithography.

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