Excellent performance Ruthenium doped Sb2Te3 alloy for phase change memory.

The contradictory between thermal stability and operation speed has traditionally been the restriction to apply phase change memory (PCM) in the harsh condition. For providing a feasible solution, in this paper, Ru-modification is introduced to boost the data retention of Sb 2 Te 3 without sacrificing the operation speed over the conventional Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 compound. The both experimental and simulation results indicate that Ru locates at the grain boundary to inhibit the formation of large grains. Several performance of the device was enhanced, including: ultra-high 10-year data retention above 200 °C, lower Reset voltage about 1.9 V at 100 ns pulse width and a fast operation speed of 6 ns. Refined grains and smaller density change contributed to the reduced voltage and increased endurance. These findings demonstrated that PCM based Ru doped Sb 2 Te 3 will be a potential application in high performance memories. [Display omitted] • Ru-modification is introduced to boost data retention of Sb 2 Te 3 without sacrificing operation speed. • Ru locates at the grain boundary proved through the both experimental and simulation. • The temperature for 10-year data retention of Ru 0.08 (Sb 2 Te 3) 0.92 is up to 200 °C. • Ru 0.08 (Sb 2 Te 3) 0.92 possesses Reset voltage of 1.9 V at 100 ns pulse width and operation speed of 10 ns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]