Emerging memories

Which phenomenon becomes a problem when phase-change memory is scaled, in which heat from writing reaches a neighboring cell and changes its state?

  1. ARow hammer
  2. BElectrostatic discharge
  3. CThermal disturb (thermal crosstalk)
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Answer: C. Thermal disturb (thermal crosstalk)

Writing PCM heats the material to several hundred degrees Celsius or more. As the spacing between cells narrows, that heat can reach a neighboring cell and unintentionally crystallize it from the amorphous state. Thermal insulation structures and smaller heated regions are used to counter this.

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More Emerging memories questions

  1. What design challenge arises from the probabilistic nature of writing in STT-MRAM?
  2. What challenge results from the large variation in resistance of ReRAM cells?
  3. In general, which memory has the fewest possible rewrite cycles?
  4. Which of the following is non-volatile memory that retains data after power is removed?
  5. What does the "M" in MRAM stand for?