Characterization and Modeling of Phase-Change Memories : Case studies in materials exploration, electrical characterization, and device physics

Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) technologies play a fundamental role in the semiconductor memory industry. The non-stop increasing of functionalitiesFinal Overview >>and performances of consumer electronic products such as digital cameras, MP3 players, smart-phones, computers, and solid-state hard disks, claims for a continuous improvement of memory capacity and features. However, Flash Memory technology, which plays the major role in the today NVM market, presents intrinsic physical constraints that hamper Flash further scaling. In this context, Phase-Change Memory (PCM) is an emerging NVM technology aiming to replace Flash in many applications. PCM indeed features superior performances, like outstanding scalability perspectives, faster programming, and higher endurance. For these reasons, PCM is a topic of ever increasing interests for the scientific community and for the microelectronics industry. "Characterization and Modeling of Phase-Change Memories" introduces the main features of the PCM technology, and discusses three case studies dealing with key aspects for the further development of advanced PCM, such as new materials, electrical characterizatio, and understanding of device physics.