An 8Mb demonstrator for high-density 1.8V Phase-Change Memories

An 8Mb Non-Volatile Memory Demonstrator incorporating a novel 0.32 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ Phase-Change Memory (PCM) cell using a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) as selector and integrated into a 3V 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology is presented. Realistically large 4Mb tiles with a voltage regulation scheme that allows fast bitline precharge and sense are proposed. An innovative approach that minimizes the array leakage has been used to verify the feasibility of high-density PCM memories with improved Read/Write performance compared to Flash. Finally, cells distributions and first endurance measurements demonstrate the chip functionality and a good working window.