Thermal Boundary Resistance Measurements for Phase-Change Memory Devices

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 56 - 58
• Main Authors: Reifenberg, J.P., Kuo-Wei Chang, Panzer, M.A., Sangbum Kim, Rowlette, J.A., Asheghi, M., Wong, H.-S.P., Goodson, K.E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-01-2010; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Conductivity measurement; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electrical resistance measurement; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Integrated circuits; Integrated circuits by function (including memories and processors); Nonvolatile memories; Phase change materials; Phase change memory; phase-change memory (PCM); Scanning electron microscopy; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Temperature; thermal boundary resistance (TBR); Thermal conductivity; Thermal resistance; Thermoreflectance; Tin; Picosecond; Thermal resistance; thermal boundary resistance (TBR); Non volatile memory; phase-change memory (PCM); Random access memory; Integrated circuit; Thermal conductivity; PCM material; Nonvolatile memories; Pulse code modulation
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2009.2035139

Thermal interfaces play a key role in determining the programming energy of phase-change memory (PCM) devices. This letter reports the picosecond thermoreflectance measurements of thermal boundary resistance (TBR) at TiN/GST and Al/TiN interfaces, as well as the intrinsic thermal conductivity measurements of fcc GST between 30°C and 325°C. The TiN/GST TBR decreases with temperature from ~26 to ~18 m 2 ·K/GW, and the Al/TiN ranges from ~7 to 2.4 m 2 ·K/GW. A TBR of 10 m 2 ·K/GW is equivalent in thermal resistance to ~192 nm of TiN. The fcc GST conductivity increases with temperature between ~0.44 and 0.59 W/m/K. A detailed understanding of TBR is essential for optimizing the PCM technology.