Scaling Properties of Critical Phase Change Conditions in Ge2Sb2Te5 Nanopillars

2008/04/28 by O. Ozatay, Barry Stipe, B. Stipe +6
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films #Nonlinear Optical Materials Studies #Phase-change materials and chalcogenides #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0804.4485

12 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2008/04/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01

Abstract

We have measured the critical phase change conditions induced by electrical pulses in Ge2Sb2Te5 nanopillar phase change memory devices by constructing a comprehensive resistance map as a function of pulse parameters (width, amplitude and trailing edge). Our measurements reveal that the cooling scheme and the details of the contact geometry play the dominant role in determining the final phase composition of the device. A three-dimensional finite element model of the electro-thermal physics not only provides good insights into the underlying physical mechanisms of the switching dynamics but also quantitatively accounts for the observed scaling behaviour.

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