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Theoretical and Experimental Understanding of Charge-Injection GeTe/Sb2Te3 Superlattice Phase Change Memory

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Abstract

A charge-injection GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice phase change memory (PCM or PRAM) has been developed as a candidate for a non-volatile memory that replaces NAND flash memory. It differs from PRAM with the conventional material of GeSbTe, and is therefore named “TRAM (topological switching random access memory)”. First principle calculations showed a resistance change in the GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice was enhanced by charge injection. The fabrication and analyses of a one-resistor TEG revealed that the superlattice structure was maintained after 1M endurance, which proved the occurrence of non-melting resistance change in TRAM. The reset current of TRAM was found to be less than 1/5 of that of conventional PRAM. Furthermore, TRAM enables a set -speed of 10 ns and reset -operation by DC-sweep to be achieved, which experimentally proved the atomic movement in TRAM can be enhanced by charge injection.

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acknowledgments

The author would like to thank T. Ohyanagi, M. Tai, M. Kitamura, M. Kinoshita, T. Morikawa, and K. Akita for device fabrication. The author also would like to thank to K. Shiraishi, S. Kato, M. Araidai, T. Yamamoto, and K. Kamiya for theoretical calculation. The author expresses thanks to J. Tominaga and Y. Saito for discussion of materials research. This work was performed as “Ultra-Low Voltage Device Project ” funded and supported by METI and NEDO. Device processing was operated by SCR operation office, AIST, Japan.

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  1. Low-power Electronics Association & Project, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8569, Japan

    Norikatsu Takaura

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Takaura, N. Theoretical and Experimental Understanding of Charge-Injection GeTe/Sb2Te3 Superlattice Phase Change Memory. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1697, 12–23 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2014.549

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2014.549

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