Paper Title: Scaling of New Memory Technologies Used for Persistent Memory

Paper Abstract: New memory technologies such as phase-change memory (3D XPoint) and MRAM are now gaining wide interest as persistent memory in storage systems. A key issue in determining whether they will achieve large markets is whether manufacturers can scale them successfully at lower process dimensions to obtain usable combinations of density, power, and performance. Such scaling depends on the emergence of new materials and supporting metallizations, as well as advances in memory cell etching and encapsulation. Data from short loops and test chips are now available to evaluate the impact of new materials and processes on device performance. Major scaling challenges include lowering power requirements for phase-change memory and increasing densities for MRAM.

Paper Author: Mahendra Pakala, Sr Director, Applied Materials

Author Bio: Mahendra Pakala is Managing Director Memory Group at Applied Materials, a leading supplier of semiconductor equipment. His specialties include wafer fab process and equipment, thin film deposition, product development, and managing technology development. Before joining Applied Materials, he had device process technology development experience at Western Digital, Grandis (acquired by Samsung), Wavesplitter and Read-Rite (acquired by WDC). He holds or has applied for 60 patents with over 30 actually granted. He also has 41 technical publications including presentations at major conferences and articles in such well-known journals as Applied Physics Letters, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, and IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. He earned a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.