Superlatticelike dielectric as a thermal insulator for phase-change random access memory

Abstract

Superlatticelike (SLL) dielectric comprising of Ge2 Sb 2 Te5 and SiO2 was employed to reduce the power and increase the speed of phase-change random access memories (PCRAMs). In this study, we found that PCRAM cells with SLL dielectric require lower currents and shorter pulse-widths to switch compared to the cells with SiO2 dielectric. As the thickness of the SLL period reduces, the power and speed of the cells improved further due to the better thermal confinement of the SLL dielectric. Fast phase-change in 5 ns was observed in large cells of 1 μm, showing the effectiveness of SLL dielectric for advanced memory applications. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.