Electrical Transport Properties of Amorphous Ge15Te85 Thin Films Using Scanning Probe Microscopy for Phase Change Memory Applications

Myana, S K (2013) Electrical Transport Properties of Amorphous Ge15Te85 Thin Films Using Scanning Probe Microscopy for Phase Change Memory Applications. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad.

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Abstract

Chalcogenide glassy semiconductors exhibit ultrafast reversible electrical switching from highly resistive ‘OFF’ state to a low resistive ‘ON’ state in the amorphous phase under the excitation of suitable electrical pulses. The contrasting features associated with the amorphous and crystalline phases are exploited for use in phase change memory (PCM) devices. The phase change memories are considered as potential candidates to replace the conventional flash memories due to their low energy consumption and scalability. Phase change materials are characterized by their programming characteristics, such as programming currents and programming speeds. Faster crystallizing materials such as GeTe and Ge2Sb2Te5 have proven to be potential candidates for phase change memory. In spite of the slow crystallization exhibited by GeTe6 it shows a stable switching and is used as ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector device in a memory device. The dual stage crystallization of GeTe6 is the major drawback which has to be analyzed for fabricating OTS device which is better compatible with a phase change memory cell.

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