The Structure of Phase‐Change Chalcogenides and Their High‐Pressure Behavior

Abstract

Phase-change materials (PCMs) used in data storage devices have unique structural features and transition properties by thermal heating. Pressure, as another important thermodynamic tool, can also induce a series of interesting phase transitions in PCMs, accompanied by the altering of bonding nature and physical properties. Here, the structure transition as well as property change of prototypical phase-change material Ge-Sb-Te (GST) under hydrostatic pressure has been reviewed. The high-pressure behavior of some other relevant chalcogenides such as GeTe, Sb 2 Te 3 , and GeSe, is also discussed. The revealing of structure and property changes due to high pressure sheds light on the underlying physics of many fascinating properties of PCMs, and therefore it will have profound implications on various applications of phase change materials in memory and other fields.

Recent Advances on Neuromorphic Devices Based on Chalcogenide Phase‐Change Materials

“…Reproduced with permission. [62] Copyright 2018, Wiley-VCH. not invariable; it keeps changing its microstructure and properties slowly at room temperature, resulting in the undesired "resistance drift" issue in devices.…”

Phase Change Materials and Superlattices for Non‐Volatile Memories

“…Kailiang Xu et al present an overview on the high‐pressure behaviors of PCMs. In addition to temperature, pressure serves as another important thermodynamic parameter to tailor the materials properties and trigger phase transitions in PCMs.…”

Numerical Study on Resistance Change Characteristics of Phase Change Materials

“…Even though PCMs are well studied, research on PCMs is still a hotspot, such as the study on their behavior under high pressure [5] and the study on the structural changes of GST upon rapid cooling by abinitio molecular dynamics simulations and atomistic cluster alignment analysis [6], and the research on their applications in other fields as well. For instance, Wainstein et al [7] investigated RF switches based on phase change memory (PCM) and Xu et al [8] discussed the use of PCMs to implement artificial neurons and synapses.…”