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Crystalline Path Formation in Nanoglasses of PCM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Marco Nardone
Affiliation:
mnardone1@verizon.net, The University of Toledo, Physics and Astronomy, Toledo, Ohio, United States
Mark Alexander Simon
Affiliation:
mark.simon@utoledo.edu, The University of Toledo, Physics and Astronomy, Toledo, Ohio, United States
Ilya V. Karpov
Affiliation:
ilya.v.karpov@intel.com, Intel, Santa Clara, California, United States
Victor G. Karpov
Affiliation:
vkarpov@gmail.com, University of Toledo, Physics & Astronomy, Toledo, Ohio, United States
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Abstract

This work presents an analytical model of crystalline phase formation in nanoglasses of phase change memory. We describe a data loss mechanism when the cell resistance changes significantly at elevated temperatures over long periods of time with no electrical bias applied. Unlike the standard approach, which relates crystalline shunt formation to aggregates of crystalline particles forming the percolation cluster, we look at the rare events of almost rectilinear path formation in very thin structures. They can occur at crystalline volume fractions considerably lower than the critical volume fraction required for percolation. We find the characteristic parameters which can describe statistics of these rare events.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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