Author: Marissa Anne Caldwell

Publisher: Stanford University

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13:

Phase change (PC) memory has emerged as a leading candidate for next generation information storage technology. Based on the reversible amorphous-crystalline phase transition of chalcogenide materials, PC technology has already been commercialized through the optical disk industry and is currently being evaluated for non-volatile electronic data storage as phase change random access memory (PCRAM). In either the optical or electronic application, device performance relies on the material properties of the active phase change material (PCM). Traditionally deposited through physio-chemical routes such as sputtering or chemical vapor deposition, the PCM fundamentally limits PC scaling potential as it is expected that key properties will change as the volume of PCM decreases. Colloidal nanoparticle systems provide a unique opportunity to systematically study the properties of materials in the nanosize regime due to the potential for exquisite composition and size control. In this talk, I will present the first colloidal nanoparticle system of a known phase change material. Colloidal GeTe nanoparticles 1.4-4nm in diameter were synthesized through a co-precipitation route and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H and 31P) was used to elucidate the molecular species involved in the reaction pathway and found that a metal center mediated proton transfer is necessary to mediate the relative reactivity of the reactants. In addition, a post-synthetic size selective procedure was developed to separate the nanoparticles into distinct size ranges. Using in-situ heating, the size dependent crystallization temperature was measured by XRD and was found to increase with decreasing nanoparticle diameter suggesting favorable improvements in lifetime data retention for scaled PCRAM cells. To evaluate the potential use in PCRAM devices, electrical measurements were also collected on nanoparticle films. Resistance versus temperature measurements revealed that nanoparticle films retained the high resistive contrast between the amorphous and crystalline phases necessary for PCRAM operation. After design optimization, PCRAM cells were fabricated utilizing the nanoparticles as a solution processable precursor to the PCM. Completed cells showed reversible switching, including threshold switching, characteristic of PCRAM operation. Cycling up to 200 times, the cells are the best performing solution processed PCRAM devices reported to date, suggesting that colloidal nanoparticles are a viable route to PCMs.