Open AccessFinite element electro‐thermal modelling of nanocrystalline phase change elements using mesh‐based crystallinity approach
Author(s) -
Trombetta M.,
Williams N.E.,
Fischer S.,
Gokirmak A.,
Silva H.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
electronics letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.375
H-Index - 146
ISSN - 1350-911X
DOI - 10.1049/el.2013.2253
Subject(s) - finite element method , nanocrystalline material , crystallinity , materials science , thermal , phase change , phase (matter) , phase change material , electronic engineering , composite material , structural engineering , engineering , engineering physics , nanotechnology , thermodynamics , physics , quantum mechanics
Phase change memory cells composed of nanocrystalline Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 with a heater diameter of 10 nm and Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 thickness of 100 nm are studied by using two‐dimensional finite element simulations with COMSOL Multiphysics. The nanocrystalline Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 is emulated by using a mesh‐based model incorporating crystalline grains of random size and location embedded in the amorphous media. The material parameters are modelled with temperature dependency from 300 to 1000 K, including electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, electric field breakdown and Seebeck coefficient. This model is shown to capture the cycle‐to‐cycle and device‐to‐device variability in phase change memory cells.