Experimental Analysis of Programming characteristic of Phase-Change Memory cells

Abstract Phase change memory (PCM), as a concept, was developed decades ago, but due to technical difficulties, PCM was not fully realized until recent years. PCM unique qualities make it attractive for cerin applications. PCM relies on a phenomenon wherein a material alternates between an amorphous state and a crystalline state; by alternating between these two states, the material electrical resistance changes accordingly; these two resistance states are used to store information, where each state is assigned a logical level (0,1). Since PCM relies on changing a material physical characteristic, a degree of randomness will be inherent to the process. This randomness is one of the obstacles facing PCM, among many. The thesis starts by giving background information on memory devices, their main categories, and a brief introduction on some of them. A thorough explanation of the operating principles behind PCM will be presented, followed by an overview of PCM performance as memory devices; lastly, the results of experiments that showcase a PCM chip behavior are presented. The results also include a model that aims to predict the behavior.

Analisi sperimentale della caratteristica di programmazione in celle di memoria a cambiamento di fase