Fabrication process not limited by the lithography resolution of lateral phase change memory

To improve the performance of phase change memory (PCM) and reduce the cost of fabrication, we propose a new lateral PCM structure based on the technology of angle evaporation to define the critical dimension controllable, not limited by the limitation of lithography resolution. The fabrication process is cost-effective. PCM cells featured 80 nm×100 nm were successfully demonstrated, although the resolution of the aligned used was 1 µm only. Compared with the traditional lateral PCM structure, finite element simulation results show that the new structure has better thermal stability.