N-doped GeTe as performance booster for embedded Phase-Change Memories

The commercialization of Phase-Change Memories (PCM), based on the well-known GST compound, have been recently started, tailored for consumer applications. Despite other excellent performances (i.e. low-power, scalability,…), data retention is assured up to 85°C, still limited for the automotive market segment. Alternative active material able to comply with the stringent requirements of automotive applications should possibly exhibit higher crystallization temperature (TC) as well as higher Activation Energy (EA) with respect to GST. Recent literature shows that GeTe provides better retention [1–3], while several works put in evidence how data retention is enhanced by inclusions in pure host alloys [4–6].

[1]  S. Lee,et al.  A novel cell technology using N-doped GeSbTe films for phase change RAM , 2003, 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology. Digest of Technical Papers (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37407).

[2]  A. Cabrini,et al.  An integrated multi-physics approach to the modeling of a phase-change memory device , 2008, ESSDERC 2008 - 38th European Solid-State Device Research Conference.

[3]  J. Nodin,et al.  Comparative Assessment of GST and GeTe Materials for Application to Embedded Phase-Change Memory Devices , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Memory Workshop.

[4]  Y. Ha,et al.  Observation of molecular nitrogen in N-doped Ge2Sb2Te5 , 2006 .

[5]  K. Domen,et al.  Dependence of Activity and Stability of Germanium Nitride Powder for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting on Structural Properties. , 2007 .

[6]  Miss A.O. Penney.  (b) , 1974, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[7]  Carl Schell,et al.  Nanocomposite Phase-Change Memory Alloys for Very High Temperature Data Retention , 2010, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[8]  A. Kotabe,et al.  Doped In-Ge-Te Phase Change Memory Featuring Stable Operation and Good Data Retention , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting.

[9]  Evidence of Germanium precipitation in phase-change Ge1-xTex thin films by Raman scattering , 2009 .

[10]  Guo-Fu Zhou,et al.  Materials aspects in phase change optical recording , 2001 .

[11]  A. Toffoli,et al.  Electrical Behavior of Phase-Change Memory Cells Based on GeTe , 2010, IEEE Electron Device Letters.