N-Doping Impact in Optimized Ge-Rich Materials Based Phase-Change Memory

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the impact of N- doping in optimized Ge-rich Ge2Sb2Te5 materials on device programming and storing performance. We integrate these alloys in state-of-the-art Phase- Change Memory (PCM) cells and we analyze the efficiency of the SET operation in N-doped and undoped memory cells, comparing voltage based programming with current based programming. This aspect is extensively investigated through electrical characterization, physico-chemical analysis and electro-thermal simulations. The thermal stability of these devices is finally evaluated and high temperature data retention is granted enabling PCM for embedded applications.