US Patent Issued to STMicroelectronics on April 1 for "Phase change memory device with improved retention characteristics and related method" (Italian Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,266,402, issued on April 1, was assigned to STMicroelectronics S.r.l. (Agrate Brianza, Italy).

"Phase change memory device with improved retention characteristics and related method" was invented by Elisa Petroni (Sesto San Giovanni, Italy) and Andrea Redaelli (Milan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A phase change memory element has a memory region, a first electrode and a second electrode. The memory region is arranged between the first and the second electrodes and has a bulk zone and an active zone. The memory region is made of a germanium, antimony and tellurium based alloy, wherein germanium is in a higher percentage than antimony and...