Extended switching endurance of phase change memory through nano-confined cell structure

Jia Zheng, Ruobing Wang, Wencheng Fang, Chengxing Li, Jiarui Zhang, Ziqi Wan, Yuqing Chen, Jin Liu, Xixi Zou, Li Xie, Qian Wang, Xi Li, Sannian Song, Xilin Zhou () and Zhitang Song ()
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Jia Zheng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ruobing Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wencheng Fang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chengxing Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jiarui Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ziqi Wan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuqing Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jin Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xixi Zou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Li Xie: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qian Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xi Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sannian Song: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xilin Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhitang Song: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Phase change memory has been regarded as a promising candidate for storage class memory application. However, the high switching current and limited switching endurance remain a critical challenge. In this work a switching endurance beyond 1.1 × 1011 cycles is demonstrated in the mushroom-type memory device with nano-cofined structure and carbon-doped GeSbTe material. The over-programming of the memory cell induced by excessive RESET current gives rise to the recrystallization of the active phase change volume which accelerates the inward migration of carbon atoms to the bottom heater. The cyclic switching exacerbates the over-programming effect with denser carbon cluster accumulated at the boundary of the active region which causes the stuck-RESET failure. The nano-confined cell structure enables efficient heating by relocating the melt-quench region away from the interface to the dielectric layer which substantially reduces the RESET energy and, consequently, mitigates the over-programming effect and significantly extends the switching cycles.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60644-1

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