Chromium doped GeTe for low-power-consumption phase change memory

Abstract

Phase change memory has gained increasing attention as an important candidate for future memory devices. The improvement in the performance of phase change materials by doping with various materials has been widely investigated. However, many doped elements tend to spontaneously accumulate at the grain boundaries during the crystallization process. In the present, the structure and phase change properties of Cr doped GeTe is investigated. Owing to the Cr lower electronegativity, stable Cr-Ge and Cr-Te bonds will be formed and change the local bonding environment of the Cr-doped GeTe. It is found that Cr atoms serve as a substitutional impurity and no other content separates out from the primary GeTe phase. The increased grain boundaries provide phonon and electron scattering centers, lead to a decreased thermal and electrical conductivity. As the result, the energy-inexpensive operation process based on Cr doped GeTe device has been achieved.