Fast phase transitions induced by picosecond electrical pulses on phase change memory cells

The reversible and fast phase transitions induced by picosecond electrical pulses are observed in the nanostructured GeSbTe materials, which provide opportunities in the application of high speed nonvolatile random access memory devices. The mechanisms for fast phase transition are discussed based o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2008-07, Vol.93 (4), p.043121-043121-3
Main Authors: Wang, W. J., Shi, L. P., Zhao, R., Lim, K. G., Lee, H. K., Chong, T. C., Wu, Y. H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The reversible and fast phase transitions induced by picosecond electrical pulses are observed in the nanostructured GeSbTe materials, which provide opportunities in the application of high speed nonvolatile random access memory devices. The mechanisms for fast phase transition are discussed based on the investigation of the correlation between phase transition speed and material size. With the shrinkage of material dimensions, the size effects play increasingly important roles in enabling the ultrafast phase transition under electrical activation. The understanding of how the size effects contribute to the phase transition speed is of great importance for ultrafast phenomena and applications.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.2963196