Simulation comparison of reset operation for mushroom phase change memory cells with different access device

Phase change memory (PCM) is considered to be a promising candidate for high density, fast and non-volatile memory technologies. PCM devices are resistive memory elements where the crystalline (set) and amorphous (reset) states typically have ~10²-10⁴ times difference in resistance values. The transitions between these states are achieved through localized self-heating with large current densities. Scaling device dimensions improves packing density and speed and results in reduced peak current, power and total energy required for switching [1].