This application claims the priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0061468, filed on May 12, 2021, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a resistive memory device and a method of manufacturing the same. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a resistive memory device that may be used as a Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM) device by storing data using a resistance state difference of a variable resistance layer, and a method of manufacturing the resistive memory device.
A resistive memory device has a simple device structure and advantages of high operation speed and low power operation. Unlike a flash memory device that stores electric charges, the resistive memory device stores data using a resistance state difference of a variable resistance layer. For example, the resistive memory device may have a high resistance state (HRS) and a low resistance state (LRS). Further, the resistive memory device may have several resistance states according to materials and structures constituting the device.
A switching operation of the resistive memory device may include a forming process in which a conductive filament is formed to become a low resistance state from an initial state, a RESET operation process in which the conductive filament is broken and a resistance of the variable resistance layer is increased, and a SET operation process in which the conductive filament is formed again and the resistance is lowered.
For example, the resistive memory device may be electrically connected to a transistor formed on a substrate. In such case, a contact plug connected to the transistor may be used as a lower electrode, and a variable resistance layer and an upper electrode may be formed on the contact plug. In particular, an insulating layer having a contact hole may be formed on the substrate, and an adhesive layer and a diffusion barrier layer may be formed on an inner side surface of the contact hole and a surface portion of the substrate exposed by the contact hole. As an example, a titanium layer and a titanium nitride layer may be used as the adhesive layer and the diffusion barrier layer.
However, in the case of the resistive memory device having the above structure, a conductive filament may be formed in the variable resistance layer in the forming processor the SET operation process, and the conductive filament may be broken in the RESET operation process. However, metal diffusion may occur from the adhesive layer into the variable resistance layer, whereby a second conductive filament may be formed in the variable resistance layer. In such case, because the second conductive filament is formed by the metal diffusion, it may be maintained without being broken in the RESET operation process. As a result, the RESET operation process of the resistive memory device may not be normally performed due to the second conductive filament.
The present disclosure provides a resistive memory device capable of preventing formation of a second conductive filament due to metal diffusion in a variable resistance layer and a method of manufacturing the resistive memory device.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a resistive memory device may include an insulating layer disposed on a substrate and having a contact hole exposing a surface portion of the substrate, a lower electrode disposed in the contact hole, an adhesive layer disposed between the contact hole and the lower electrode, a first diffusion barrier layer disposed between the adhesive layer and the lower electrode, a second diffusion barrier layer disposed on the insulating layer, the lower electrode, the adhesive layer and the first diffusion barrier layer, a variable resistance layer disposed on the second diffusion barrier layer, and an upper electrode disposed on the variable resistance layer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of the same material as the first diffusion barrier layer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first diffusion barrier layer and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of metal nitride.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second diffusion barrier layer may have an opening exposing the lower electrode.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the resistive memory device may further include a third diffusion barrier layer disposed in the opening, and the variable resistance layer may be disposed on the second diffusion barrier layer and the third diffusion barrier layer. In such case, the third diffusion barrier layer may be made of the same material as the first diffusion barrier layer, and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of a material different from the first diffusion barrier layer. For example, the first diffusion barrier layer and the third diffusion barrier layer may be made of metal nitride, and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of silicon nitride.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the variable resistance layer may include a first oxide layer disposed on the second diffusion barrier layer, and a second oxide layer disposed on the first oxide layer. In such case, the first oxide layer may have a greater oxygen content than the second oxide layer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the variable resistance layer may include a first silicon oxide layer disposed on the second diffusion barrier layer, and a second silicon oxide layer disposed on the first silicon oxide layer. In such case, the second silicon oxide layer may have a greater number of oxygen vacancies than the first silicon oxide layer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, an impurity diffusion region may be disposed in a surface portion of the substrate, and a portion of the adhesive layer may be disposed on the impurity diffusion region.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the upper electrode may be made of metal silicide.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the upper electrode may have the same size as the variable resistance layer.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of a resistive memory device may include forming an insulating layer having a contact hole exposing a surface portion of a substrate on the substrate, forming an adhesive layer on an inner side surface of the contact hole and the surface portion of the substrate exposed by the contact hole, forming a first diffusion barrier layer on the adhesive layer, forming a lower electrode on the first diffusion barrier layer to fill the contact hole, forming a second diffusion barrier layer on the insulating layer, the lower electrode, the adhesive layer and the first diffusion barrier layer, forming a variable resistance layer on the second diffusion barrier layer, and forming an upper electrode on the variable resistance layer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first diffusion barrier layer and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of the same material.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second diffusion barrier layer may have an opening exposing the lower electrode. In such case, the method may further include forming a third diffusion barrier layer in the opening, and the variable resistance layer may be formed on the second diffusion barrier layer and the third diffusion barrier layer. Further, the third diffusion barrier layer may be made of the same material as the first diffusion barrier layer, and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of a material different from the first diffusion barrier layer. For example, the first diffusion barrier layer and the third diffusion barrier layer may be made of metal nitride, and the second diffusion barrier layer may be made of silicon nitride.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the forming the variable resistance layer may include forming a first oxide layer on the second diffusion barrier layer, and forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer. In such case, the first oxide layer may have a greater oxygen content than the second oxide layer.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure as described above, metal diffusion from the adhesive layer to the variable resistance layer may be prevented by the second diffusion barrier layer. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an unwanted second conductive filament from being formed between the adhesive layer and the upper electrode, thereby sufficiently preventing an operation error in the RESET operation of the resistive memory device.
The above summary of the present disclosure is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the present disclosure. The detailed description and claims that follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments.
Embodiments can be understood in more detail from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
While various embodiments are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the claimed inventions to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the claims.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and is implemented in various other forms. Embodiments below are not provided to fully complete the present invention but rather are provided to fully convey the range of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
In the specification, when one component is referred to as being on or connected to another component or layer, it can be directly on or connected to the other component or layer, or an intervening component or layer may also be present. Unlike this, it will be understood that when one component is referred to as directly being on or directly connected to another component or layer, it means that no intervening component is present. Also, though terms like a first, a second, and a third are used to describe various regions and layers in various embodiments of the present invention, the regions and the layers are not limited to these terms.
Terminologies used below are used to merely describe specific embodiments, but do not limit the present invention. Additionally, unless otherwise defined here, all the terms including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning that is generally understood by those skilled in the art.
Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to schematic drawings of ideal embodiments. Accordingly, changes in manufacturing methods and/or allowable errors may be expected from the forms of the drawings. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention are not described being limited to the specific forms or areas in the drawings, and include the deviations of the forms. The areas may be entirely schematic, and their forms may not describe or depict accurate forms or structures in any given area, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
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Specifically, an insulating layer 120 having a contact hole 122 (refer to
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a second diffusion barrier layer 132 for preventing metal diffusion, that is, titanium diffusion, from the adhesive layer 124 to the variable resistance layer 134 is formed on the insulating layer 120, the lower electrode 130, the adhesive layer 124 and the first diffusion barrier layer 126. The second diffusion barrier layer 132 may be made of the same material as the first diffusion barrier layer 126, for example, titanium nitride. That is, the second diffusion barrier layer 132 may be formed between the adhesive layer 124 and the variable resistance layer 134, and thus, metal diffusion from the adhesive layer 124 to the variable resistance layer 134 may be prevented. As a result, the formation of an unwanted second conductive filament (not shown) in the variable resistance layer 134 by the metal diffusion may be prevented.
The lower electrode 130 may be made of a metal, for example, tungsten or copper. The second diffusion barrier layer 132 may be formed between the lower electrode 130 and the variable resistance layer 134, and thus, metal diffusion from the lower electrode 130 to the variable resistance layer 134 may be prevented. As a result, the formation of a conductive filament (not shown) between the lower electrode 130 and the upper electrode 142 may be precisely controlled.
The variable resistance layer 134 may include a first oxide layer 136 formed on the second diffusion barrier layer 132 and a second oxide layer 138 formed on the first oxide layer 134. In particular, the first oxide layer 136 may have a greater oxygen content than the second oxide layer 138. For example, the first oxide layer 136 may be a first silicon oxide layer, and the second oxide layer 138 may be a second silicon oxide layer. In such case, the second silicon oxide layer 138 may have a smaller oxygen content than the first silicon oxide layer 136, and thus, the second silicon oxide layer 138 may have a greater number of oxygen vacancies than the first silicon oxide layer 136. As described above, the first silicon oxide layer 136 having a relatively high oxygen content and a relatively small number of oxygen vacancies may be formed on the second diffusion barrier layer 132 having a relatively high oxygen affinity, and thus, the RESET operation process of the resistive memory device 100 may be more stably performed.
The resistive memory device 100 may include a second insulating layer 144 formed on the insulating layer 120. The second insulating layer 144 may have a second contact hole 146 (refer to
Meanwhile, a transistor 110 including a gate insulating layer 112, a gate electrode 114, gate spacers 116, and source/drain regions may be formed on the substrate 102. For example, impurity diffusion regions 118 serving as the source/drain regions may be formed in surface regions of the substrate 102, and the lower electrode 130 may be electrically connected to one of the impurity diffusion regions 118. Further, though not shown in
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the upper electrode 142 may be made of metal silicide. For example, the upper electrode 142 may be made of tantalum silicide and may have the same size as the variable resistance layer 134 and the second diffusion barrier layer 132.
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A transistor 110 including a gate insulating layer 112 formed on the substrate 102, a gate electrode 114 formed on the gate insulating layer 112, gate spacers 116 formed on side surfaces of the gate electrode 114, and impurity diffusion regions 118 serving as source/drain regions may be formed on the substrate 102, and the lower electrode 130 may be electrically connected to one of the impurity diffusion regions 118. A second insulating layer 144 having a second contact hole exposing the upper electrode 142 may be formed on the insulating layer 120, and a second adhesive layer 148, a fourth diffusion barrier layer 166, and a contact plug 154 may be formed in the second contact hole. Further, a metal wiring 156 may be formed on the contact plug 154.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, the second diffusion barrier layer 160 may have an opening 162 (refer to
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Subsequently, a transistor 110 may be formed in the active region of the substrate 102. For example, a gate insulating layer 112 may be formed on the substrate 102, and a gate electrode 114 may be formed on the gate insulating layer 112. The gate insulating layer 112 may be a silicon oxide layer formed by a thermal oxidation process, and the gate electrode 114 may be formed of polysilicon doped with impurities. In addition, gate spacers 116 may be formed on side surfaces of the gate electrode 114.
Impurity diffusion regions 118 serving as source/drain regions may be formed in surface portions of the substrate 102 adjacent to the gate electrode 114. For example, the impurity diffusion regions 118 may be formed by an ion implantation process and a heat treatment process. In addition, although not shown, ohmic contact regions may be respectively formed on surface portions of the impurity diffusion regions 118. For example, cobalt silicide layers may be formed on surface portions of the impurity diffusion regions 118.
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A metal wiring 156 may be formed on the contact plug 154. For example, a metal layer (not shown) such as an aluminum layer may be formed on the second insulating layer 144 and the contact plug 154, and the metal wiring 156 may be formed by patterning the metal layer.
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After forming the lower electrode 130, a second diffusion barrier layer 160 may be formed on the insulating layer 120, the lower electrode 130, the adhesive layer 124, and the first diffusion barrier layer 126. Then, the second diffusion barrier layer 160 may be partially removed to form an opening 162 exposing the lower electrode 130. For example, the second diffusion barrier layer 160 may be formed of silicon nitride, and the opening 162 may be formed by an anisotropic etching process.
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In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure as described above, metal diffusion from the adhesive layer 124 to the variable resistance layer 134 may be prevented by the second diffusion barrier layer 132 and 160. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an unwanted second conductive filament from being formed between the adhesive layer 124 and the upper electrode 142, thereby sufficiently preventing an operation error in the RESET operation of the resistive memory device 100.
Although the example embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the specific embodiments, they are not limited thereto. Therefore, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2021-0061468 | May 2021 | KR | national |