Nonvolatile phase change memory nanocell fabrication by femtosecond laser writing assisted with near-field optical microscopy

Abstract

The phase change memory cells were developed by using a combination system of a femtosecond laser with near-field scanning optical microscopy. The memory cells with feature size varying from 800 nm down to 90 nm were achieved. The cell functional performances were tested, and the scalability of the programming current as a function of the memory cell features was investigated. The optical near-field distance which is one of the critical factors to achieve high resolution nanostructures was studied experimentally with the consideration of the whole fabrication process for functional devices. The Bethe-Bouwkamp model was employed to study the effects of the optical near-field distance to the nanostructure geometry. The programming current of 0.8 mA was observed for the memory nanocell at a feature size of 90 nm. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.