High speed and high reliability in Ge8Sb92/Ga30Sb70 stacked thin films for phase change memory applications

•Smaller volume shrinkage (2.21%) guarantees high reliability operation.•The crystallization speed of [Ge8Sb92(25 nm)/Ga30Sb70(25 nm)]1 film was about 11 ns.•The Ge8Sb92/Ga30Sb70 stacked thin films show better thermal stability than Ge2Sb2Te5.•The reversible transition speed of the cell is as short as 50 ns.

Stacked Ge8Sb92/Ga30Sb70 films exhibited better thermal stability. Smaller volume change (2.21%) before and after phase change than Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST). Crystallization process of the [Ge8Sb92(25 nm)/Ga30Sb70(25 nm)]1 thin film was within 11 ns, which was measured by a picosecond laser pump-probe system. Reversible transition of the phase change memory cell based on the [Ge8Sb92(25 nm)/Ga30Sb70(25 nm) ]1 can be achieved by using an electrical pulse of as short as 50 ns.

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