Comparative Assessment of GST and GeTe Materials for Application to Embedded Phase-Change Memory Devices

This work presents a thorough comparative assessment of undoped GST and GeTe active phase-change (PC) materials for application to embedded memory devices (in particular consumer and automotive products). The material screening and qualification is performed through optical reflectivity and 4-probes resistivity measurements. Electrical performances are then investigated through tests of lance-cell analytical PC memory cells. Reset current densities of GST and GeTe are comparable, while GeTe data-retention at high- temperature is significantly improved compared to GST, suggesting that GeTe-based compounds are promising candidates for embedded PC memory applications.