Abstract
Chalcogenide phase-change materials (PCMs) based random access memory (PCRAM) enter the global memory market as storage-class memory (SCM), holding great promise for future neuro-inspired computing and non-volatile photonic applications. The thermal stability of the amorphous phase of PCMs is a demanding property requiring further improvement. In this work, we focus on indium, an alloying ingredient extensively exploited in PCMs. Starting from the prototype GeTe alloy, we incorporated indium to form three typical compositions along the InTe-GeTe tie line: InGe3Te4, InGeTe2 and In3GeTe4. The evolution of structural details, and the optical properties of the three In-Ge-Te alloys in amorphous and crystalline form, was thoroughly analyzed via ab initio calculations. This study proposes a chemical composition possessing both improved thermal stability and sizable optical contrast for PCM-based non-volatile photonic applications.
Highlights
As announced by STMicroelectronics, PCRAM will be used as embedded memory, replacing Flash memory, for their future microcontroller units (MCU) for the automotive industry [7]
We performed ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations based on density functional theory (DFT) to generate melt-quenched amorphous structures [61]
The three IGT com compositions considered in this work, namely InGe3 Te4, InGeTe2 and In3 GeTe4, fall in positions considered in this work, namely InGe3Te4, InGeTe2 and In3GeTe4, fall in this com this compositional range, and were expected to take the rock-salt structure
Summary
Non-volatile memory (NVM) is a rising technology that allows for high-density data storage and fast data processing [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Phase-change materials (PCMs)-based random access memory (PCRAM) is a leading NVM candidate with successful stand-alone memory products such as Intel Optane. The notable contrast in either electrical resistivity or optical reflectivity between each phase is utilized to encode digital information [1]. Several demanding requirements, such as high programming speed, good thermal stability, low power consumption, stable property contrast window and long cycling endurance, have to be well satisfied for high-performance PCRAM. Indium-alloyed GeTe [49,50,51,52] and GST [53,54] were reported, and their enhanced amorphous stability makes them suitable candidates for high-temperature PCRAM applications. By performing thorough ab initio calculations and chemical bonding analyses, we elucidate the role of indium in altering the structural and optical properties of GeTe
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