Ni-doped GST materials for high speed phase change memory applications

Abstract

In this paper, Ni-doped Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) was investigated for high speed phase change memory applications. Compared with GST, Ni0.3Ge2.8Sb2.2Te4.7 film exhibits a higher crystallization temperature (∼217°C) and a better data retention ability (∼135°C for 10 years). A reversible switching between set and reset can be realized by an electric pulse as short as 6-ns for Ni0.3Ge2.8Sb2.2Te4.7 based phase change memory. Furthermore, Ni0.3Ge2.8Sb2.2Te4.7 based cell shows good endurance up to 1.5×104 SET–RESET cycles during endurance test.