Evidence for Non-Arrhenius Kinetics of Crystallization in Phase Change Memory Devices

Author

Ciocchini, Nicola ; Cassinerio, Marco ; Fugazza, Davide ; Ielmini, Daniele

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettron. e Inf., Italian Univ. Nanoelectron. Team, Milan, Italy

Volume

60

Issue

11

fYear

2013

fDate

Nov. 2013

Firstpage

3767

Lastpage

3774

Abstract

The programming speed in a phase change memory (PCM) relies on the kinetics of crystallization in the pulsed regime. To predict the programming speed and retention of a PCM, a careful understanding and modeling of crystallization in the phase change material is essential. In this paper, we study crystallization kinetics directly in PCM devices. From thermal annealing and pulsed-set experiments, we extract the temperature dependence of the crystallization in a wide temperature range between 170°C and the melting point (about 620°C). Our results indicate two markedly different activation energies below/above 300°C, thus providing evidence for a non-Arrhenius crystallization kinetics in PCM.

Keywords

annealing; crystallisation; phase change memories; reaction kinetics; activation energies; crystallization kinetics; melting point; nonArrhenius kinetics; phase change memory devices; pulsed-set experiments; temperature dependence; thermal annealing; Conductivity; Crystallization; Kinetics; Phase change materials; Temperature measurement; Crystallization; phase change memory (PCM); phase transition; reliability modeling; threshold switching;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2013.2282637

Filename

6626567