Pt Modified Sb2Te3 Alloy Ensuring High-Performance Phase Change Memory

Phase change memory (PCM), due to the advantages in capacity and endurance, has the opportunity to become the next generation of general-purpose memory. However, operation speed and data retention are still bottlenecks for PCM development. The most direct way to solve this problem is to find a material with high speed and good thermal stability. In this paper, platinum doping is proposed to improve performance. The 10-year data retention temperature of the doped material is up to 104 degrees C; the device achieves an operation speed of 6 ns and more than 3 x 10(5) operation cycles. An excellent performance was derived from the reduced grain size (10 nm) and the smaller density change rate (4.76%), which are less than those of Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) and Sb2Te3. Hence, platinum doping is an effective approach to improve the performance of PCM and provide both good thermal stability and high operation speed.

Automated summary

Thermal stability and operation speed are the bottlenecks in the development of phase change memory. This paper explores the use of platinum doping to improve PCM performance, resulting in higher data retention temperature and operation speed through reduced grain size and density change rate.