State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Micro-System and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, P. R. China.
State Key Laboratory of ASIC and System Department of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P. R. China.
Adv Mater. 2023 Mar;35(11):e2208065. doi: 10.1002/adma.202208065. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
Phase-change memory (PCM) is one of the most promising candidates for next-generation data-storage technology, the programming speed of which has enhanced within a timescale from milliseconds to sub-nanosecond (≈500 ps) through decades of effort. As the potential applications of PCM strongly depend on the switching speed, namely, the time required for the recrystallization of amorphous chalcogenide media, the finding of the ultimate crystallization speed is of great importance both theoretically and practically. In this work, through systematic analysis of discovered phase-change materials and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, elemental Sb-based PCM is predicted to have a superfast crystallization speed. Indeed, such cells experimentally present extremely fast crystallization speeds within 360 ps. Remarkably, the recrystallization process is further sped up as the device shrinks, and a record-fast crystallization speed of only 242 ps is achieved in 60 nm-size devices. These findings open opportunities for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)-like and even cache-like PCM using appropriate storage materials.
相变存储器 (PCM) 是下一代数据存储技术中最有前途的候选者之一，其编程速度在几十年的努力下已经从毫秒级提高到了亚纳秒级（≈500 ps）。由于 PCM 的潜在应用强烈依赖于其开关速度，即非晶硫属化物介质再结晶所需的时间，因此发现最终的结晶速度在理论和实际上都非常重要。在这项工作中，通过对已发现的相变材料的系统分析和从头分子动力学模拟，预测基于 Sb 元素的 PCM 具有超快的结晶速度。实际上，实验中的此类单元表现出极快的结晶速度，仅需 360 ps。值得注意的是，随着器件尺寸的缩小，再结晶过程进一步加快，在 60nm 尺寸的器件中实现了仅 242 ps 的超快结晶速度。这些发现为使用合适存储材料的类似动态随机存取存储器 (DRAM) 甚至类似高速缓存的 PCM 提供了机会。
