CEA and Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble Assigned Patent

Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Paris, France, and Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France, has been assigned a patent (9,472,271) developed by Hubert, Quentin, and Jahan, Carine, Grenoble, France, for a “method of programming a phase change memory and phase change memory device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for pre-programming a matrix of phase-change memory cells, including a phase-change material positioned between two conducting electrodes and able to be reversely electrically modified so as to vary the resistivity of the memory cell. A dielectric layer is provided with the memory cell having an original resistive state at the end of the memory cell production process. A pre-programming of the matrix is executed prior to mounting a component containing the matrix on a support. A breakdown voltage is applied to a selection of memory cells so that, for each one of the selected cells, the layer of the dielectric material breaks down to bring the cell from the original resistive state to a second resistive state.“

The patent application was filed on February 7, 2014 (14/175,271).