Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
748601 | Solid-State Electronics | 2012 | 4 Pages |
In this study, a modified write-and-verify (WAV) scheme is proposed for improving the programming/erasing (P/E) endurance of multi-level cell (MLC) phase-change memory (PCM) using Ge-doped SbTe (GeST). A dual reference data read method is developed to detect the level margin decay during P/E cycling, and a trigger condition is designed to trigger self-repair for the degraded cells before any P/E error for the modified WAV scheme. Experimental results suggest that the modified WAV scheme effectively extends the P/E endurance of PCM using GeST during 4-level P/E by at least 10 times. The modified WAV scheme is expected to improve the endurance of MLC–PCM of system applications.
► A programming scheme is proposed for multi-level cell phase-change memory (MLC PCM). ► A dual reference data read method is used to detect the degradation of MLC. ► A condition is implemented for the scheme to trigger self-repair of degraded cells. ► The scheme extends the cell lifetime during 4-level programming by at least 10 times. ► The scheme is expected to improve the reliability of systems using MLC PCMs.