How important is the {103} plane of stable Ge2 Sb2 Te5 for phase-change memory?

W Zhang; W T Zheng; J-G Kim; X Q Cui; L Li; J G Qi; Y-J Kim; S A Song

doi:10.1111/jmi.12242

How important is the {103} plane of stable Ge2 Sb2 Te5 for phase-change memory?

J Microsc. 2015 Jul;259(1):10-5. doi: 10.1111/jmi.12242. Epub 2015 Mar 21.

Authors

W Zhang^{1

2}, W T Zheng¹, J-G Kim³, X Q Cui¹, L Li⁴, J G Qi⁵, Y-J Kim³, S A Song^{6

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science, and Key Laboratory of Mobile Materials MOE, and State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
² Computational and Analytical Science Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Yongin, South Korea.
³ Korea Basic Science Institute, Daejeon, South Korea.
⁴ School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Changchun University, Changchun, China.
⁵ School of Material Science & Engineering, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, China.
⁶ Dongjin Semichem Co. Ltd., Hwaseong, South Korea.

PMID: 25809085
DOI: 10.1111/jmi.12242

Abstract

Closely correlating with {200} plane of cubic phase, {103} plane of hexagonal phase of Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) plays a crucial role in achieving fast phase change process as well as formation of modulation structures, dislocations and twins in Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5). The behaviors of {103} plane of hexagonal phase render the phase-change memory process as a nanoscale shape memory.

Keywords: Ge2Sb2Te5; face-centered-cubic (FCC); hexagonal; phase-change memory; shape memory.