Phase change memory (PCM) technology is a strong contender for the next‐generation memory in today's data‐centric era. In3SbTe2 (IST) phase change material is recently explored due to its good thermal stability, rapid electrical switching, and significant resistance contrast for multibit storage. However, the main concern in PCM devices is the high‐energy usage during the phase switching process. Herein, a thin oxide (HfO2) layer is inserted between the IST active layer and bottom electrode in PCM device. Such a device exhibits amorphous‐to‐crystalline phase switching (crystallization or SET operation) at a lower voltage of (2.1 ± 0.1) V and 66% reduction in energy consumption compared to the device using only IST active layer. Higher temperature of 688 K is acquired in the device with the oxide layer demonstrating that the Joule heat is effectively confined by the oxide layer assisting the crystallization process in the active layer at a less voltage. Such a device also exhibits a significant resistance contrast of ≈2 orders magnitude, allowing for stable data storage. These results reveal that the switching performance of PCM device using IST phase change material is improved by the oxide layer, which is beneficial for energy‐efficient, nonvolatile data storage applications.

中文翻译：

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薄氧化层 In3SbTe2 相变存储器件的低功耗结晶工艺

相变存储器 (PCM) 技术是当今以数据为中心的时代下一代存储器的有力竞争者。在3碲化锑2（IST）相变材料由于其良好的热稳定性、快速的电切换以及多位存储的显着电阻对比而最近得到了探索。然而，PCM 设备的主要问题是相切换过程中的高能耗。在此，薄氧化物（HfO2) 层插入 IST 有源层和 PCM 器件中的底部电极之间。与仅使用 IST 有源层的器件相比，此类器件在 (2.1 ± 0.1) V 的较低电压下表现出非晶态到晶态的相切换（结晶或 SET 操作），并且能耗降低了 66%。在具有氧化层的器件中获得了 688 K 的较高温度，这表明焦耳热被氧化层有效限制，有助于在较低电压下有源层中的结晶过程。这种器件还表现出约 2 个数量级的显着电阻对比，从而实现稳定的数据存储。这些结果表明，氧化层提高了使用 IST 相变材料的 PCM 器件的开关性能，这有利于节能、非易失性数据存储应用。