Silicides as new electrode/heater for compact integration of phase change memory with CMOS

We report the first demonstration of phase change memory cells utilizing nickel monosilicide (NiSi) or platinum monosilicide (PtSi) as the bottom electrode or heater material. This work enables the integration of PCRAM directly on the silicided drain regions of MOSFETs, allowing compact integration with reduced process complexity and cost. Low reset current of 0.8 mA was achieved for contact dimensions of ~ 1 μm. Electrical and simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of employing silicides as a bottom electrode/heater in a PCRAM.