Inducing chalcogenide phase change with ultra-narrow carbon nanotube heaters

Carbon nanotube CNT heaters with sub-5 nm diameter induce highly localized phase change in Ge2Sb2Te5 GST chalcogenide. A significant reduction in resistance of test structures is measured as the GST near the CNT heater crystallizes. Effective GST heating occurs at currents as low as 25 A, significantly lower than in conventional phase change memory with metal electrodes 0.1– 0.5 mA . Atomic force microscopy reveals nucleation sites associated with phase change in GST around the CNT heater. Finite element simulations confirm electrical characteristics consistent with the experiments, and reveal the current and phase distribution in GST. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3273370