Thermal-gradient-driven elemental segregation in Ge2Sb2Te5 phase change memory cells

Phoebe Yeoh; Yuanzhi Ma; David A. Cullen; James A. Bain; Marek Skowronski

doi:10.1063/1.5095470

Thermal-gradient-driven elemental segregation in Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ phase change memory cells

Phoebe Yeoh, Yuanzhi Ma, David A. Cullen, James A. Bain, Marek Skowronski

Materials MicroAnalysis

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18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Thermal gradients have been predicted to play a large role in compositional segregation leading to failure in phase change memories. We have developed a methodology for isolating thermal-gradient driven segregation effects without interference from the electric field. In Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ functional layers, Sb and Te move along the temperature gradient, while Ge segregates in the opposite direction. The direction of segregation is consistent for devices that were repeatedly melted, as well as for devices that were never melted and remained in the polycrystalline state. The results have implications for the reliability of phase change memories.

Original language	English
Article number	163507
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	114
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5095470
State	Published - Apr 22 2019

Funding

This work was supported in part by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE1252522 and the Data Storage Systems Center at Carnegie Mellon University. The authors acknowledge the use of the Materials Characterization Facility at Carnegie Mellon University supported by Grant No. MCF-677785 and the electron microscopy facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility.

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National Science Foundation

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Thermal-gradient-driven elemental segregation in Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ phase change memory cells

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