ELECTROTHERMAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PHASE-CHANGE FILMS AND DEVICES

Year 2017, Volume: 18 Issue: 5, 1057 - 1065, 31.12.2017

Gokhan Bakan

Abstract

The reversible changes in the optical properties of the
phase-change materials have made the rewritable optical storage possible which
has revolutionized the dissemination of data since 1990s. For the last two
decades, the phase-change materials have been studied extensively for its
applications as nonvolatile memory elements (phase-change memory (PCM)
devices). While the PCM devices were initially considered as replacements for
the flash memory, today they promise a universal memory acting as the main
memory and the storage unit. Here we demonstrate a simple alternative to study
phase-change films and devices for further fundamental studies. The films are
deposited using a single sputtering target and the devices are formed using
single lithography, deposition and liftoff steps. The electrical resistivity of
the films and devices are characterized in a temperature range varying from
room temperature to 250 °C. Finally, microscale GST wires are amorphized by
melting using self-heating and quenching.

Keywords

Phase-change devices, nonvolatile memory, electrothermal effects

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