Phase Change Memory

Author

Wong, H. S Philip ; Raoux, Simone ; Kim, SangBum ; Liang, Jiale ; Reifenberg, John P. ; Rajendran, Bipin ; Asheghi, Mehdi ; Goodson, Kenneth E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA, USA

Volume

98

Issue

12

fYear

2010

Firstpage

2201

Lastpage

2227

Abstract

In this paper, recent progress of phase change memory (PCM) is reviewed. The electrical and thermal properties of phase change materials are surveyed with a focus on the scalability of the materials and their impact on device design. Innovations in the device structure, memory cell selector, and strategies for achieving multibit operation and 3-D, multilayer high-density memory arrays are described. The scaling properties of PCM are illustrated with recent experimental results using special device test structures and novel material synthesis. Factors affecting the reliability of PCM are discussed.

Keywords

electric properties; phase change materials; phase change memories; reliability; thermal properties; PCM reliability; device design; device structure; electrical property; material synthesis; memory cell selector; multibit operation; multilayer high-density memory arrays; phase change memory; scaling property; special device test structures; thermal property; Conductivity; Crystallization; Phase change materials; Resistance; Switches; Threshold voltage; Chalcogenides; PCRAM; PRAM; emerging memory; heat conduction; nonvolatile memory; phase change material; phase change memory (PCM); thermal physics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Proceedings of the IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9219

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPROC.2010.2070050

Filename

5609179