Display apparatuses are disclosed. In one arrangement, a display apparatus comprises a plurality of pixel units. Each pixel unit comprises: an optically switchable element; a heater operable to apply heating to the optically switchable element and thereby change an optical property of the optically switchable element; and a drive unit for driving the heater in response to a drive signal. The drive unit is provided within a first layer. The optically switchable elements and heaters of the plurality of pixel units are separated from the first layer by at least a portion of a second layer. An average thermal conductivity of the second layer is lower than an average thermal conductivity of the first layer.

A semiconductor structure includes a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer, and a memory device between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. The memory device includes a top electrode, a bottom electrode adjacent to the first conductive layer, and a phase change material between the top electrode and the bottom electrode. The bottom electrode includes a first portion and a second portion between the first portion and the first conductive layer.

An electronic device including a semiconductor memory is provided. The semiconductor memory includes a plurality of first lines extending in a first direction; a plurality of second lines over the first lines, the second lines extending in a second direction crossing the first direction; a plurality of memory cells disposed at intersection regions of the first lines and the second lines between the first lines and the second lines in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions; and a heat sink positioned between two memory cells adjacent to each other in a diagonal direction with respect to the first and second directions.

A radio frequency (RF) switch includes a heating element and a thermally resistive material adjacent to sides of the heating element. A thermally conductive and electrically insulating material is situated on top of the heating element. A phase-change material (PCM) is situated over the thermally conductive and electrically insulating material. The PCM has an active segment overlying the thermally conductive and electrically insulating material, and passive segments underlying input/output contacts of the RF switch. The RF switch may include a bulk substrate heat spreader, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) handle wafer heat spreader, or an SOI top semiconductor heat spreader under the heating element.

Some embodiments relate to a method for manufacturing a memory device. The method includes forming a bottom electrode over a substrate. A heat dispersion layer is formed over the bottom electrode. A dielectric layer is formed over the heat dispersion layer. A top electrode is formed over the dielectric layer. The heat dispersion layer comprises a first dielectric material.

A radio frequency (RF) switch includes a phase-change material (PCM), a heating element underlying an active segment of the PCM and extending outward and transverse to the PCM, and RF terminals having lower metal portions and upper metal portions. At least one of the lower metal portions can be ohmically separated from and capacitively coupled to passive segments of the PCM, while the upper metal portions are ohmically connected to the lower metal portions. Alternatively, the lower metal portions can be ohmically connected to passive segments of the PCM, while a capacitor is formed in part by at least one of the upper metal portions. Alternatively, at least one of the RF terminals can have a trench metal liner separated from a trench metal plug by a dielectric liner. The trench metal liner can be ohmically connected to passive segments of the PCM, while the trench metal plug is ohmically separated from, but capacitively coupled to, the trench metal liner.

In fabricating a radio frequency (RF) switch, a phase-change material (PCM) and a heating element underlying an active segment of the PCM are provided. A contact uniformity support layer is formed over the PCM. The PCM and the contact uniformity support layer are patterned. A contact dielectric is formed over the contact uniformity support layer. Slot lower portions of PCM contacts are formed extending through the contact dielectric and through the contact uniformity support layer, and connected to passive segments of the PCM. Wide upper portions of the PCM contacts are formed over the contact dielectric and over the slot lower portions of the PCM contacts. The contact dielectric separates the wide upper portions of the PCM contacts from the heating element so as to reduce parasitic capacitance of the RF switch. The contact uniformity support layer maintains a substantially constant thickness of the passive segments of the PCM.

A rapid testing read out integrated circuit (ROIC) includes phase-change material (PCM) radio frequency (RF) switches residing on an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Each PCM RF switch includes a PCM and a heating element transverse to the PCM. The ASIC is configured to provide amorphizing and crystallizing electrical pulses to a selected PCM RF switch. The ASIC is also configured to determine if the selected PCM RF switch is in an OFF state or in an ON state. In one implementation, a testing method using the ASIC is disclosed.

A radio frequency (RF) switching circuit includes stacked phase-change material (PCM) RF switches. Each of the PCM RF switches includes a PCM, a heating element transverse to the PCM, and first and second heating element contacts. The first heating element contact is coupled to an RF ground, and the second heating element contact may also be coupled to an RF ground. Each of the PCM RF switches can also include first and second PCM contacts. A compensation capacitor can be coupled across the first and second PCM contacts in at least one of the PCM RF switches.

A resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) device may include a thermally engineered layer that is positioned adjacent to an active layer and configured to act as a heat sink during filament formation in response to applied voltages. The thermally engineered layer may act as one of the electrodes on the ReRAM device and may be adjacent to any side of the active layer. The active layer may also include a plurality of individual active layers. Each of the active layers may be associated with a different dielectric constant, such that the middle active layer has a dielectric constant that is significantly higher than the other two surrounding active layers.