Phase-change material Ge0.61Sb2Te for application in high-speed phase change random access memory

Abstract

Compared with Ge2Sb2Te5, Ge0.61Sb2Te has higher crystallization temperature (∼200.5 °C), larger crystallization activation energy (∼3.28 eV), and better data retention (∼120.8 °C for 10 yr). The switching between amorphous and crystalline state could be triggered by the electric pulse of as short as 10 ns. With the resistance ratio of two orders of magnitude, the endurance test was up to 106 cycles. Ge0.61Sb2Te material is a promising candidate for the trade-off between programming speed and data retention.