Phase change memory technology

Abstract

We survey the current state of phase change memory (PCM), a non-volatile solid-state memory technology built around the large electrical contrast between the highly-resistive amorphous and highly-conductive crystalline states in so-called phase change materials. PCM technology has made rapid progress in a short time, having passed older technologies in terms of both sophisticated demonstrations of scaling to small device dimensions, as well as integrated large-array demonstrators with impressive retention, endurance, performance and yield characteristics. We introduce the physics behind PCM technology, assess how its characteristics match up with various potential applications across the memory-storage hierarchy, and discuss its strengths including scalability and rapid switching speed. We then address challenges for the technology, including the design of PCM cells for low RESET current, the need to control device-to-device variability, and undesirable changes in the phase change material that can be induced by the fabrication procedure. We then turn to issues related to operation of PCM devices, including retention, device-to-device thermal crosstalk, endurance, and bias-polarity effects. Several factors that can be expected to enhance PCM in the future are addressed, including Multi-Level Cell technology for PCM (which offers higher density through the use of intermediate resistance states), the role of coding, and possible routes to an ultra-high density PCM technology.

Review article

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Tunable nanophotonics enabled by chalcogenide phase-change materials
• n-Type Chalcogenides by Ion Implantation
• Picosecond electric-field-induced threshold switching in phase-change materials
• An Analytical Approach for Memristive Nanoarchitectures
• Molecular dynamics simulations of oxide memory resistors (memristors)
• Direct observation of nanometer-scale Joule and Peltier effects in phase change memory devices
• Scaling Analysis of Nanowire Phase Change Memory
• Carrier Multiplication-Induced Structural Change during Ultrafast Carrier Relaxation and Non-Thermal Phase Transition in Semiconductors
• Low-bias electron transport properties of germanium telluride ultrathin films
• What is the speed limit of martensitic transformations?
• Ultra-compact nonvolatile plasmonic phase change modulators and switches with dual electrical-optical functionality
• An Energy-efficient Capacitive-RRAM Content Addressable Memory
• Thickness-dependence of hydrogen-induced phase transition in MoTe${}_2$
• Electronic stress tensor analysis of molecules in gas phase of CVD process for GeSbTe alloy
• Diffraction anomalies in hybrid structures based on chalcogenide-coated opal photonic crystals
• NdCeCuO - NdCeO boundary and resistive switchings in mesoscopic structures on base of epitaxial NdCeCuO films
• Programming current reduction via enhanced asymmetry-induced thermoelectric effects in vertical nanopillar phase change memory cells
• High-speed metamagnetic resistive switching of FeRh through Joule heating
• Study of vacancy ordering and the boson peak in metastable cubic Ge-Sb-Te using machine learning potentials
• The thermodynamic principle determining the interface temperature during phase change
• NVCache: A Plug-and-Play NVMM-based I/O Booster for Legacy Systems
• A Software-based NVM Emulator Supporting Read/Write Asymmetric Latencies
• Phase Change Logic via Thermal Cross-Talk for Computation in Memory
• Rewritable storage channels with hidden state
• Modeling Filamentary Conduction in Reset Phase Change Memory Devices
• Dimensional quantization effects in the thermodynamic of conductive filaments