Phase change material variable capacitor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9253822-B2
Application number	US-201313926296-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2013
Priority date	Jun 25, 2013
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a variable capacitor includes forming a capacitor conductor. The method also includes forming a phase change material adjacent the capacitor conductor. The method further includes forming a first contact on the capacitor conductor. The method additionally includes forming a second contact and a third contact on the phase change material.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method of manufacturing a variable capacitor, comprising:
forming a capacitor conductor;
forming a phase change material adjacent the capacitor conductor;
forming a first contact on the capacitor conductor; and
forming a second contact and a third contact on the phase change material.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a dielectric between the phase change material and the capacitor conductor.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
forming a lower capacitor conductor;
forming a lower dielectric between the phase change material and the lower capacitor conductor.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising forming a fourth contact on the lower capacitor conductor.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is composed of a material that is selectively changeable between an amorphous phase and a crystalline phase.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is composed of a material that is selectively changeable between a first phase having a high resistivity and a second phase having a low resistivity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material comprises a chalcogenide material.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capacitor conductor and the phase change material are formed in interlevel dielectric layers over a substrate.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising connecting a control device to the second contact and the third contact on the phase change material.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the control device is configured to selectively apply a current through the phase change material for a predefined amount of time.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein a magnitude of the current and the predefined amount of time are selected to set the phase change material to a crystalline phase or reset the phase change material to an amorphous phase.

12. A method of changing a capacitance of a capacitor, the capacitor comprising a capacitor conductor, a phase change material that is selectively changeable between one of a first phase and a second phase, a first contact on the capacitor conductor, and a second contact and a third contact on the phase change material, the method comprising:
selectively setting the phase change material included in the capacitor to one of a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the setting the phase change material to one of the crystalline phase and the amorphous phase comprises heating the phase change material to a predefined temperature for a predefined amount of time.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the heating comprises applying a current to the phase change material.

15. A variable capacitor, comprising:
a capacitor conductor;
a phase change material that is selectively changeable between one of a first phase and a second phase;
a first contact on the capacitor conductor; and
a second contact and a third contact on the phase change material,
wherein the variable capacitor has a first capacitance when the phase change material is in the first phase and a second capacitance different from the first capacitance when the phase change material is in the second phase.

16. The variable capacitor of claim 15 , further comprising a capacitor dielectric between the capacitor conductor and the phase change material.

17. The variable capacitor of claim 16 , further comprising:
an other capacitor conductor; and
an other capacitor dielectric between the other capacitor conductor and the phase change material.

18. The variable capacitor of claim 15 , further comprising a control device configured to selectively change the phase change material to one of the first phase and the second phase.

19. The variable capacitor of claim 15 , wherein:
the capacitor conductor and the phase change material are formed in interlevel dielectric layers over a substrate;
the phase change material comprises chalcogenide material;
the first phase is a high resistivity amorphous phase; and
the second phase is a low resistivity crystalline phase.

20. The variable capacitor of claim 18 , wherein the control device is connected to the second contact and the third contact on the phase change material.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Lamorey Mark C

Classifications

• H01G4/232

  electrically connecting two or more layers of a stacked or rolled capacitor · CPC title

• H01G4/258

  Temperature compensation means · CPC title

• H01G4/33 Primary

  Thin- or thick-film capacitors {(thin- or thick-film circuits; capacitors without a potential-jump or surface barrier specially adapted for integrated circuits, details thereof, multistep manufacturing processes therefor)} · CPC title

• H01G7/00 Primary

  Capacitors in which the capacitance is varied by non-mechanical means; Processes of their manufacture · CPC title

• H01G7/04

  having a dielectric selected for the variation of its permittivity with applied temperature · CPC title