A circuit component that exhibits a region of negative differential resistance includes: a first layer of material; and a second layer of material in contact with the first layer of material, the contact forming a first self-heating interface. The first self-heating interface is structured such that an electrical current flowing from the first layer of material to the second layer of material encounters an electrical impedance occurring at the first interface that is greater than any electrical impedance occurring in the first and second layers of material, wherein heating occurring at the first interface is dominated by Joule heating caused by the electrical impedance occurring at the first interface, and wherein the electrical impedance occurring at the first interface decreases with increasing temperature to induce a region of negative differential resistance.

RF commutator including: a phase change material (7) arranged between a first conducting element (2) and a second conducting element (4), means of heating (11, 13) the phase change material provided with a first electrode (11) and a second electrode (13), the means of heating being capable of modifying the state of the phase change material (7) by injection of an electrical activation signal between the first electrode and the second electrode, at least one given electrode (11, 13) among the first electrode (11) and second electrode (13) comprising a conducting part (15a) arranged between the first conducting element (2) and the second conducting element (4), zones of the phase change material being laid out between the first conducting element (2) and the second conducting element (4) and being arranged on either side of this conducting part (15a).

Resistive elements for PCM RPUs and techniques for fabrication thereof using trench depth pattering are provided. In one aspect, an RPU device includes: a first electrode; a second electrode; a heater; and a PCM disposed over the first electrode, the second electrode and the heater, wherein the heater includes a combination of a first material having a resistivity r1 and a second material having a resistivity r2, wherein r1>r2, and wherein only the first material is present beneath the PCM and forms a resistive heating element. A method of operating an RPU device is also provided.

A switch device including a semiconductor substrate is provided. A trench is formed in the substrate, and a phase change material is provided at least partially in the trench. A heater for heating the phase change material is also provided.

A security key associated with a plurality of programmable switches included in an integrated circuit is received. The plurality of programmable switches are set causing the plurality of programmable switches to be conductive. Reset pulses are applied to a first set of programmable switches included in the plurality of programmable switches based on the received security key.

An apparatus comprises a phase-change material, a first electrode at a first end of the phase-change material, a second electrode at a second end of the phase-change material, and a heating element coupled to a least a given portion of the phase-change material between the first end and the second end. The apparatus also comprises a first input terminal coupled to the heating element, a second input terminal coupled to the heating element, and an output terminal coupled to the second electrode.

A selection device and a crosspoint memory including the same are provided. The selection device has a lower electrode. A polycrystalline metal oxide layer including insulating crystal grains and a conductive nanochannel formed in a grain boundary between the crystal grains is disposed on the lower electrode. An upper electrode is disposed on the polycrystalline metal oxide layer.

The invention is notably directed to a transflective display device. The device comprises a set of pixels, wherein each of the pixels comprises a portion of bi-stable, phase change material, hereafter a PCM portion, having at least two reversibly switchable states, in which it has two different values of refractive index and/or optical absorption. The device further comprises one or more spacers, optically transmissive, and extending under PCM portions of the set of pixels. One or more reflectors extend under the one or more spacers. An energization structure is in thermal or electrical communication with the PCM portions, via the one or more spacers. Moreover, a display controller is configured to selectively energize, via the energization structure, PCM portions of the pixels, so as to reversibly switch a state of a PCM portion of any of the pixels from one of its reversibly switchable states to the other. A backlight unit is furthermore configured, in the device, to allow illumination of the PCM portions through the one or more spacers. The backlight unit is controlled by a backlight unit controller, which is configured for modulating one or more physical properties of light emitted from the backlight unit. The invention is further directed to related devices and methods of operation.

Memory devices and methods of forming the same are provided. A memory device includes a substrate, a first conductive layer, a phase change layer, a selector layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer is disposed over the substrate. The phase change layer is disposed over the first conductive layer. The selector layer is disposed between the phase change layer and the first conductive layer. The second conductive layer is disposed over the phase change layer. In some embodiments, at least one of the phase change layer and the selector layer has a narrow-middle profile.

The present disclosure relates to a switch system that provides a control method for switches based on dual-phase materials. The disclosed switch system includes a heat resistor, a power management (PM) unit configured to provide a control voltage at a voltage port coupled to the heat resistor, and a phase-change-based switch. Herein, the heat resistor is underneath the phase-change-based switch, and configured to generate heat energy from the control voltage and provide the heat energy to the phase-change-based switch. The phase-change-based switch is capable of being switched on and off by switching between a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase based on the heat energy provided by the heat resistor. The control voltage provided by the PM unit contains waveform information of target heat energy required for switching on and off the phase-change-based switch.