Thermal Boundary Resistance Measurements for Phase-Change Memory Devices

Thermal interfaces play a key role in determining the programming energy of phase-change memory (PCM) devices. This letter reports the picosecond thermoreflectance measurements of thermal boundary resistance (TBR) at TiN/GST and Al/TiN interfaces, as well as the intrinsic thermal conductivity measurements of fcc GST between 30 degrees C and 325 degrees C. The TiN/GST TBR decreases with temperature from similar to 26 to similar to 18 m(2) . K/GW, and the Al/TiN ranges from similar to 7 to 2.4 m(2) . K/GW. A TBR of 10 m(2) . K/GW is equivalent in thermal resistance to similar to 192 nm of TiN. The fcc GST conductivity increases with temperature between similar to 0.44 and 0.59 W/m/K. A detailed understanding of TBR is essential for optimizing the PCM technology.