Assessment of threshold switching dynamics in phase-change chalcogenide memories

Author

Ielmini, D. ; Lacaita, A.L. ; Mantegazza, D. ; Pellizzer, F. ; Pirovano, A.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano

fYear

2005

fDate

5-5 Dec. 2005

Firstpage

877

Lastpage

880

Abstract

The electronic properties of amorphous chalcogenide materials to be used in a phase change memory (PCM) play a critical role in limiting the read/program speed and voltage of the cell. This work presents a comprehensive experimental analysis of the recovery transient of threshold voltage V_T after reset. It is shown that V_T displays a fast increase in the first 30 ns after reset, followed by a slower time evolution due to drift. The recovery behavior is explained in terms of a threshold switching model for amorphous chalcogenides. Finally, the recovery of the OFF-state resistance R is studied, in order to assess the resistance window of the PCM under fast read operation

Keywords

chalcogenide glasses; integrated memory circuits; phase change materials; random-access storage; PCM; amorphous chalcogenide materials; cell voltage; chalcogenide memories; phase change memory; read/program speed; recovery transient; threshold switching dynamics; Amorphous materials; Crystalline materials; Displays; Electric resistance; Low voltage; Nonvolatile memory; Phase change materials; Phase change memory; Threshold voltage; Transient analysis;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices Meeting, 2005. IEDM Technical Digest. IEEE International

Conference_Location

Washington, DC

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9268-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEDM.2005.1609497

Filename

1609497