Study on GeGaSbTe film for long data retention phase change memory application

Abstract In this paper, Ga 0.6 Ge 2.8 Sb 2.6 Te 4 film was investigated for long data retention phase change memory application. Compared with Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 , Ga 0.6 Ge 2.8 Sb 2.6 Te 4 film has higher crystallization temperatures (~ 240 °C) and larger crystallization activation energy (~ 2.9 eV), which lead to a higher temperature (~ 135 °C) for ten year data retention. The reversible phase change can be realized by a 100-ns width electric pulse. Ga 0.6 Ge 2.8 Sb 2.6 Te 4 based cell shows good endurance up to 1.05 × 10 5 SET–RESET cycles during endurance test.