DOI: 10.1063/1.3478713. Conductive path formation in glasses of phase change memory

Conductive path formation in glasses of phase change memory

10.1063/1.3478713

Crossref journal-article

AIP Publishing

Journal of Applied Physics (317)

Abstract

We present a model of data retention for phase change memory devices in which the active medium is a thin layer of chalcogenide glass. Data retention capability is compromised when a crystalline path is spontaneously formed in the glassy host, essentially shunting the device. We determine the probability and statistics of device failure for systems in which the crystalline volume fraction is below the critical volume fraction of percolation theory. In that regime, we show that rectilinear crystalline path formation is favored and we determine the criteria for when such paths dominate over the typical percolation cluster scenario. Our analytical approach, based on modeling the formation of such paths in terms of a half-space random walk, leads to closed form expressions that relate data retention characteristics to device parameters. The model is used to examine the effects of device geometry, temperature, and external fields. The temporal statistics of device reliability are also considered for several failure mechanisms. A computer simulation is employed that supports our derived relationships between failure probability and device parameters.

Bibliography

Simon, M., Nardone, M., Karpov, V. G., & Karpov, I. V. (2010). Conductive path formation in glasses of phase change memory. Journal of Applied Physics, 108(6).

Authors 4

M. Simon (first)
M. Nardone (additional)
V. G. Karpov (additional)
I. V. Karpov (additional)

References 22 Referenced 22

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10.1109/RELPHY.2007.369949 / IEEE Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp. Proc. (2007)
10.1109/TED.2006.885527 / IEEE Trans. Electron Devices (2006)
{'volume-title': 'Electronic Properties of Doped Semiconductors', 'year': '1979', 'key': '2023070402334089800_c9'} / Electronic Properties of Doped Semiconductors (1979)
10.1109/RELPHY.2007.369948 / IEEE Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp. Proc. (2007)
10.1109/LED.2007.905367 / IEEE Electron Device Lett. (2007)
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{'key': '2023070402334089800_c14', 'first-page': '315', 'volume-title': 'Mesoscopic Phenomena in Solids', 'author': 'Altshuller', 'year': '1991'} / Mesoscopic Phenomena in Solids by Altshuller (1991)
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{'volume-title': 'Electrodynamics of Continuous Media', 'year': '1984', 'key': '2023070402334089800_c21'} / Electrodynamics of Continuous Media (1984)

Dates

Type	When
Created	14 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 23, 2010, 7:22 p.m.)
Deposited	2 years, 1 month ago (July 3, 2023, 10:33 p.m.)
Indexed	3 weeks, 6 days ago (July 30, 2025, 6:55 a.m.)
Issued	14 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 15, 2010)
Published	14 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 15, 2010)
Published Online	14 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 23, 2010)
Published Print	14 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 15, 2010)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Simon_2010, title={Conductive path formation in glasses of phase change memory}, volume={108}, ISSN={1089-7550}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3478713}, DOI={10.1063/1.3478713}, number={6}, journal={Journal of Applied Physics}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Simon, M. and Nardone, M. and Karpov, V. G. and Karpov, I. V.}, year={2010}, month=sep }

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