GeTe4 as a Candidate for Phase Change Memory Application
LI Run1, TANG Shi-Yu2, BAI Gang2, YIN Qiao-Nan2, LAN Xue-Xin1, XIA Yi-Dong2, YIN Jiang2**, LIU Zhi-Guo2
1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 2National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093
Abstract：GeTe4 films are deposited by using a dc magnetron sputtering technique, and its structural, thermal and electrical properties are investigated systematically. The prototypical phase-change memory cells are fabricated by using a focused ion beam and magnetron sputtering techniques. Compared with Ge2Sb2Te5, the GeTe4 film exhibits a higher crystallization temperature (235°C), better data retention of ten years at 129°C, and larger activation energy (2.94 eV). GeTe4 phase change memory cells with an effective diameter of 1 μm show proper switching speed, low power consumption, and good resistance contrast. The Set and Reset operations are achieved by using a 200-ns 2.0-V pulse and a 30-ns 3.0-V pulse, respectively. The dynamic switching ratio between the OFF and ON states is larger than 1×104.
2013, Vol. 30 
