Electrothermal and phase-change dynamics in chalcogenide-based memories

We analyzed the programming dynamics in phase-change memory (PCM) cells. The chalcogenide phase-change mechanism and phase distribution in the programmed cell is studied by both experiments and a numerical model, which self-consistently addresses the electrical-thermal conduction phase transition. We show that the reset-set transition is strongly coupled to the electronic switching in the amorphous phase, thus supporting the need for a self-consistent electrothermal-phase transition model to correctly account for all experimental evidences.