Phase Change Memories challenges: A material and process perspective

Among all the new memories concepts, Phase Change Memories (PCM) is one of the most promising. However, various challenges remain. This paper reviews the materials and processes required to face these challenges. As an example, attention will be made on the effect of Phase change material composition on stability of the amorphous phase i.e. on the retention of the information. Additionally, it is showed how specific processes such as CVD or ALD can be developed in order to minimize the current required to amorphize the phase change material i.e. to reset the device. Finally, with the perspectives of the advanced integration nodes, experimental results on the effect of scaling on phase transformation are presented and discussed.