Disclosed are a method of operating a selector device, a method of operating a nonvolatile memory apparatus to which the selector device is applied, an electronic circuit device including the selector device, and a nonvolatile memory apparatus. The method of operating the selector device controls access to a memory element, and includes providing the selector device including a switching layer and first and second electrodes disposed on both surfaces of the switching layer, which includes an insulator and a metal element, and applying a multi-step voltage pulse to the switching layer via the first and second electrodes to adjust a threshold voltage of the selector device, the multi-step voltage pulse including a threshold voltage control pulse and an operating voltage pulse. The operating voltage pulse has a magnitude for turning on the selector device, and the threshold voltage control pulse has a lower magnitude lower than the operating voltage pulse.

A resistive memory device including a resistive memory pattern; and a selection element pattern electrically connected to the resistive memory pattern, the selection element pattern including a chalcogenide switching material and at least one metallic material, the chalcogenide switching material including germanium, arsenic, and selenium, and the at least one metallic material including aluminum, strontium, or indium, wherein the selection element pattern includes an inhomogeneous material layer in which content of the at least one metallic material in the selection element pattern is variable according to a position within the selection element pattern.

Methods, systems, and devices for tapered memory cell profiles are described. A tapered profile memory cell may mitigate shorts in adjacent word lines, which may be leveraged for accurately reading a stored value of the memory cell. The memory device may include a self-selecting memory component with a bottom surface and a top surface opposite the bottom surface. In some cases, the self-selecting memory component may taper from the bottom surface to the top surface. In other examples, the self-selecting memory component may taper from the top surface to the bottom surface. The top surface of the self-selecting memory component may be coupled to a top electrode, and the bottom surface of the self-selecting memory component may be coupled to a bottom electrode.

Methods, systems, and devices for fabrication of memory cells are described. An electrode layer may have an initial thickness variation after being formed. The electrode layer may be smoothened prior to forming additional layers of a memory cell, thus decreasing the thickness variation. The subsequent layer fabricated may have a thickness variation that may be dependent on the thickness variation of the electrode layer. By decreasing the thickness variation of the electrode layer prior to forming the subsequent layer, the subsequent layer may also have a decreased thickness variation. The decreased thickness variation of the subsequent layer may impact the electrical behavior of memory cells formed from the subsequent layer. In some cases, the decreased thickness variation of the subsequent layer may allow for more predictable voltage thresholds for such memory cells, thus increasing the read windows for the memory cells.

Disclosed is a tunable inductor device having a substrate, a planar spiral conductor having a plurality of spaced-apart turns disposed over the substrate, and a phase change switch (PCS) having a patch of a phase change material (PCM) disposed over the substrate between and in contact with a pair of adjacent segments of the plurality of spaced-apart turns, wherein the patch of the PCM is electrically insulating in an amorphous state and electrically conductive in a crystalline state. The PCS further includes a thermal element disposed adjacent to the patch of PCM, wherein the thermal element is configured to maintain the patch of the PCM to within a first temperature range until the patch of the PCM converts to the amorphous state and maintain the patch of the PCM within a second temperature range until the first patch of PCM converts to the crystalline state.

A resistive memory device includes a stacked structure and a copper via conductor structure. The stacked structure includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a variable resistance layer. The second electrode is disposed above the first electrode in a vertical direction, and the variable resistance layer is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode in the vertical direction. The copper via conductor structure is disposed under the stacked structure. The first electrode includes a tantalum nitride layer directly connected with the copper via conductor structure.

Integrated circuit (IC) devices with stacked two-level backend memory, and associated systems and methods, are disclosed. An example IC device includes a front end of line (FEOL) layer, including frontend transistors, and a back end of line (BEOL) layer above the FEOL layer. The BEOL layer includes a first memory layer with memory cells of a first type, and a second memory layer with memory cells of a second type. The first memory layer may be between the FEOL layer and the second memory layer, thus forming stacked backend memory. Stacked backend memory architecture may allow significantly increasing density of memory cells in a memory array having a given footprint area, or, conversely, reducing the footprint area of the memory array with a given memory cell density. Implementing two different types of backend memory may advantageously increase functionality and performance of backend memory.

A phase change memory, system, and method for gradually changing the conductance and resistance of the phase change memory while preventing resistance drift. The phase change memory may include a phase change material. The phase change memory may also include a bottom electrode. The phase change memory may also include a heater core proximately connected to the bottom electrode. The phase change memory may also include a set of conductive rings surrounding the heater core, where the set of conductive rings comprises one or more conductive rings, and where the set of conductive rings are proximately connected to the phase change material. The phase change memory may also include a set of spacers, where a spacer, from the set of spacers, separates a portion of a conductive ring, from the set of conductive rings, from the heater core.

According to various embodiments, there is provided a memory cell. The memory cell may include a transistor, a dielectric member, an electrode and a contact member. The dielectric member may be disposed over the transistor. The electrode may be disposed over the dielectric member. The contact member has a first end and a second end opposite to the first end. The first end is disposed towards the transistor, and the second end is disposed towards the dielectric member. The contact member has a side surface extending from the first end to the second end. The second end may have a recessed end surface that has a section that slopes towards the side surface so as to form a tip with the side surface at the second end. The dielectric member may be disposed over the second end of the contact member and may include at least a portion disposed over the tip.

A heater, a system, and a method for linearly changing the resistance of the phase change memory through a graded heater. The system may include a phase change memory. The phase change memory may include a dielectric. The phase change memory may also include a heater patterned on the dielectric, the heater including: an outside conductive heating layer that has a higher resistance than other layers of the heater, and an inside conductive heating layer that has a lower resistance than the outside conductive heating layer, where the outside conductive heating layer is at an outside area of the heater and the inside conductive heating layer is at an inside area of the heater. The phase change memory may also include a phase change material proximately connected to the heater. The phase change memory may also include a top electrode proximately connected to the phase change material.