IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials and Processes (IMWS-AMP 2017), 20-22 September 2017,

Pavia, Italy

Chalcogenide Phase Change Materials: An Electronic

Perspective
James G. Champlain
US Naval Research Laboratory
Washington, DC 20375, USA

SHORT ABSTRACT

Recently, phase change materials (PCMs) have gathered attention as promising systems for a variety of emerging electronic and
optoelectronic applications, including digital memory, RF switches, and switchable absorbers [1-4].

Of particular interest for electronic applications are the chalcogenide glasses, which can be repeatedly switched between two
distinct, non-volatile solid phases: crystalline and amorphous, where the crystalline phase is commonly electrically conductive
and the amorphous phase is generally electrically resistive. Ternary chalcogenide glasses, such as germanium antimony telluride
(GeSbTe or “GST”), have been extensively examined for applications in PCM-based nonvolatile memory [5, 6]. More recently,
the binary chalcogenide germanium telluride (GeTe) has gained attention for applications in RF switching due to its very low
resistance in the crystalline state, relatively high amorphous-to crystalline resistance ratio (which has been found to be up to 107
in thin films), and excellent RF performance (e.g., bandwidth > 10 THz, TOI > 65 dBm) [3].

Despite significant research efforts, our understanding of electronic transport in these materials, principally in relation to RF
operation and behavior, remains limited. In this presentation, we will discuss recent work at the US Naval Research Laboratory
targeted at better understanding the electronic behavior of chalcogenide-based PCM devices, particularly under high-field and
variable temperature conditions, with a view towards advancing the field of PCM-based reconfigurable electronics.

REFERENCES

[1] Wuttig, M. and N. Yamada, Phase-Change Materials for Rewriteable Data Storage. Nat Mater, 2007. 6(11): p. 824-832.
[2] Chua, E.K., et al., Low Resistance, High Dynamic Range Reconfigurable Phase Change Switch for Radio Frequency Applications. Applied Physics Letters,
2010. 97: p. 183506.
[3] El-Hinnawy, N., et al., Improvements in GeTe-Based Inline Phase-Change Switch Technology for RF Switching Applications, in CS MANTECH2014:
Denver, Colorado, USA.
[4] Tittl, A., et al., A Switchable Mid-Infrared Plasmonic Perfect Absorber with Multispectral Thermal Imaging Capability. Advanced Materials, 2015. 27(31):
p. 4597-4603.
[5] Fang, L.W.-W., et al., Dependence of the Properties of Phase Change Random Access Memory on Nitrogen Doping Concentration in Ge2Sb2Te5. Journal
of Applied Physics, 2010. 107(10): p. 104506.

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