Switching at the contacts in Ge9Sb1Te5 phase-change nanowire devices

dc.contributor.authorAlialy, Sahar
dc.contributor.authorGabriel, Michelle
dc.contributor.authorDavitt, Fionán
dc.contributor.authorHolmes, Justin D.
dc.contributor.authorBoland, John J.
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Research Councilen
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-02T09:10:26Z
dc.date.available2019-05-02T09:10:26Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-26
dc.date.updated2019-05-02T08:56:40Z
dc.description.abstractPhase-change random access memory is a promising approach to non-volatile memory. However, the inability to secure consistent, reliable switching on a nanometre scale may limit its practical use for high density applications. Here, we report on the switching behaviour of PCRAM cells comprised of single crystalline Ge9Sb1Te5 (GST) nanowires. We show that device switching is dominated by the contacts and does not result in a resistance change within the bulk of the wire. For the devices studied, the typical contact resistance was ~30 kΩ, whereas the resistance of the GST channel was 1.8 kΩ. The applied voltage was predominately dropped across the passivating oxide on the surface of the GST nanowires, resulting in local resistive switching at the contacts and local power dissipation, which limited the endurance of the devices produced. The optimal device must balance low resistance contacts with a more resistive channel, to facilitate phase change switching within the nanowires. These results highlight the importance of contact formation on the switching properties in phase change devices and help guide the future design of more reliable neuromorphic devices.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationAlialy, S., Gabriel, M., Davitt, F., Holmes, J. D. and Boland, J. J. (2019) 'Switching at the contacts in Ge9Sb1Te5 phase-change nanowire devices', Nanotechnology. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab1cf8en
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/1361-6528/ab1cf8en
dc.identifier.eissn1361-6528
dc.identifier.issn1361-6528
dc.identifier.journaltitleNanotechnologyen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/7835
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherIOP Publishingen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7::SP2::ERC/321160/EU/Cognitive Networks for Intelligent Materials and Devices/COGNETen
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres/12/RC/2278/IE/Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research Centre (AMBER)/en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Investigator Programme/12/IA/1482/IE/Atom Level Engineering of Material-on-Insulator Devices and Sensors/en
dc.relation.urihttp://iopscience.iop.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ab1cf8
dc.rights© 2019, IOP Publishing Ltd. This Accepted Manuscript is available for reuse under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence after a 12 month embargo period. After the embargo period, everyone is permitted to use copy and redistribute this article for non-commercial purposes only, provided that they adhere to all the terms of the licence https://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc-nd/3.0en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc-nd/3.0en
dc.subjectNeuromorphicen
dc.subjectSwitchingen
dc.subjectContact resistanceen
dc.subjectPhase changeen
dc.subjectNanowireen
dc.titleSwitching at the contacts in Ge9Sb1Te5 phase-change nanowire devicesen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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