Sb/Te Ratio Engineering in Phase-Change Memory for High SET Speed and Large Memory Window
The article investigates the effects of Sb/Te ratio on the crystallization kinetics, programming characteristics, SET speed and endurance in GeSbTe-based Phase-Change Memory (PCM). We compare PCM devices with critical dimension down to 40 nm integrating three different compositions with increasing Sb/ Te ratio: <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{2} \mathbf{Te}_{4}, \mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{4} \mathbf{Te}_{4}$</tex> and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{9} \mathbf{Te}_{4}. \mathbf{Sb}$</tex> increase allows to improve the reliability of SET operation, however a too high Sb/Te ratio reduces the RESET state resistance affecting the final PCM memory window. Intermediate Sb/Te ratio of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{4} \mathbf{Te}_{4}$</tex> provides the best trade-off between the high SET speed of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{9} \mathbf{Te}_{4}$</tex> and the large memory window of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Ge}_{1} \mathbf{Sb}_{2} \mathbf{Te}_{4}$</tex>. Sb/Te ratio engineering is a key knob to improve the SET operation reliability and enhance the memory window in PCM devices.
Authors
- Jean Rottner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6676-0350)
- Emmanuel Nolot
- Zineb Saghi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8895-8410)
- L. Fellouh
- A. Souifi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7616-6873)
- Nicolas Bernier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1395-7997)
- M. Bernard
- G. Bourgeois (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8193-9620)
- A. Salvi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5722-2216)
- Renzo Antonelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0923-7376)
- N. Castellani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0763-2130)
- Audrey Jannaud
- S. Gout
- F. Andrieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1951-1033)
- Gabriele Navarro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7017-8088)
- F. Fillot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1654-7126)
- O. Daoudi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9229-288X)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Laboratoire d'Électronique des Technologies de l'Information (FR)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-09-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/esserc66193.2025.11214047
- Primary Topic
- Phase-change materials and chalcogenides
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00