Thermal and Electrical Characterization of Materials for Phase-Change Memory Cells

The thermal properties of the phase-change chalcogenide alloy Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ in its three phases (amorphous, cubic, and hexagonal) and of Si₃N₄ and SiO₂ have been studied to obtain reliable values for device modeling. Thermal conductivity was determined, along with a quantitative estimation of the thermal resistances of the layers’ interfaces, not negligible for highly scaled devices. Electrical resistivity of the chalcogenide material has also been investigated during the phase transition by in situ measurement at constant heating rate.