In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Nanostructural Changes in Phase-Change Memory

Stefan Meister; SangBum Kim; Judy J. Cha; H.-S. Philip Wong; Yi Cui

doi:10.1021/nn1031356

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Nanostructural Changes in Phase-Change Memory

Stefan Meister, SangBum Kim, Judy J. Cha, H.-S. Philip Wong, Yi Cui

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Phase-change memory (PCM) has been researched extensively as a promising alternative to flash memory. Important studies have focused on its scalability, switching speed, endurance, and new materials. Still, reliability issues and inconsistent switching in PCM devices motivate the need to further study its fundamental properties. However, many investigations treat PCM cells as black boxes; nanostructural changes inside the devices remain hidden. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we observe real-time nanostructural changes in lateral Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) PCM bridges during switching. We find that PCM devices with similar resistances can exhibit distinct threshold switching behaviors due to the different initial distribution of nanocrystalline and amorphous domains, explaining variability of switching behaviors of PCM cells in the literature. Our findings show a direct correlation between nanostructure and switching behavior, providing important guidelines in the design and operation of future PCM devices with improved endurance and lower variability. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2742-2748
Number of pages	7
Journal	ACS Nano
Volume	5
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/nn1031356
State	Published - Mar 28 2011
Externally published	Yes

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@article{e98fd0bb88c94ad693ce135cef3f33d6,

title = "In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Nanostructural Changes in Phase-Change Memory",

abstract = "Phase-change memory (PCM) has been researched extensively as a promising alternative to flash memory. Important studies have focused on its scalability, switching speed, endurance, and new materials. Still, reliability issues and inconsistent switching in PCM devices motivate the need to further study its fundamental properties. However, many investigations treat PCM cells as black boxes; nanostructural changes inside the devices remain hidden. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we observe real-time nanostructural changes in lateral Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) PCM bridges during switching. We find that PCM devices with similar resistances can exhibit distinct threshold switching behaviors due to the different initial distribution of nanocrystalline and amorphous domains, explaining variability of switching behaviors of PCM cells in the literature. Our findings show a direct correlation between nanostructure and switching behavior, providing important guidelines in the design and operation of future PCM devices with improved endurance and lower variability. {\textcopyright} 2011 American Chemical Society.",

author = "Stefan Meister and SangBum Kim and Cha, {Judy J.} and Wong, {H.-S. Philip} and Yi Cui",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-I1-001-12 Acknowledgements: Y.C. acknowledges the support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Investigator Award (No. KUS-I1-001-12) and from the Stanford Nonvolatile Memory Technology Research Initiative. This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.",

year = "2011",

month = mar,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1021/nn1031356",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "5",

pages = "2742--2748",

journal = "ACS Nano",

issn = "1936-0851",

publisher = "American Chemical Society",

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T1 - In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Nanostructural Changes in Phase-Change Memory

AU - Meister, Stefan

AU - Kim, SangBum

AU - Cha, Judy J.

AU - Wong, H.-S. Philip

AU - Cui, Yi

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-I1-001-12 Acknowledgements: Y.C. acknowledges the support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Investigator Award (No. KUS-I1-001-12) and from the Stanford Nonvolatile Memory Technology Research Initiative. This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

PY - 2011/3/28

Y1 - 2011/3/28

N2 - Phase-change memory (PCM) has been researched extensively as a promising alternative to flash memory. Important studies have focused on its scalability, switching speed, endurance, and new materials. Still, reliability issues and inconsistent switching in PCM devices motivate the need to further study its fundamental properties. However, many investigations treat PCM cells as black boxes; nanostructural changes inside the devices remain hidden. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we observe real-time nanostructural changes in lateral Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) PCM bridges during switching. We find that PCM devices with similar resistances can exhibit distinct threshold switching behaviors due to the different initial distribution of nanocrystalline and amorphous domains, explaining variability of switching behaviors of PCM cells in the literature. Our findings show a direct correlation between nanostructure and switching behavior, providing important guidelines in the design and operation of future PCM devices with improved endurance and lower variability. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

AB - Phase-change memory (PCM) has been researched extensively as a promising alternative to flash memory. Important studies have focused on its scalability, switching speed, endurance, and new materials. Still, reliability issues and inconsistent switching in PCM devices motivate the need to further study its fundamental properties. However, many investigations treat PCM cells as black boxes; nanostructural changes inside the devices remain hidden. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we observe real-time nanostructural changes in lateral Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) PCM bridges during switching. We find that PCM devices with similar resistances can exhibit distinct threshold switching behaviors due to the different initial distribution of nanocrystalline and amorphous domains, explaining variability of switching behaviors of PCM cells in the literature. Our findings show a direct correlation between nanostructure and switching behavior, providing important guidelines in the design and operation of future PCM devices with improved endurance and lower variability. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

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U2 - 10.1021/nn1031356

DO - 10.1021/nn1031356

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EP - 2748

JO - ACS Nano

JF - ACS Nano

IS - 4

ER -

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Nanostructural Changes in Phase-Change Memory

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