Phase-change memory (PCM) has been considered a promising candidate for solving von Neumann bottlenecks owing to its low latency, non-volatile memory property and high integration density^1,2. However, PCMs usually require a large current for the reset process by melting the phase-change material into an amorphous phase, which deteriorates the energy efficiency^2,3,4,5. Various studies have been conducted to reduce the operation current by minimizing the device dimensions, but this increases the fabrication cost while the reduction of the reset current is limited^6,7. Here we show a device for reducing the reset current of a PCM by forming a phase-changeable SiTe_x nano-filament. Without sacrificing the fabrication cost, the developed nano-filament PCM achieves an ultra-low reset current (approximately 10 μA), which is about one to two orders of magnitude smaller than that of highly scaled conventional PCMs. The device maintains favourable memory characteristics such as a large on/off ratio, fast speed, small variations and multilevel memory properties. Our finding is an important step towards developing novel computing paradigms for neuromorphic computing systems, edge processors, in-memory computing systems and even for conventional memory applications.

相变存储器 (PCM) 因其低延迟、非易失性存储器特性和高集成密度而被认为是解决冯·诺依曼瓶颈的有希望的候选者^1,2。然而，PCM通常需要大电流来进行复位过程，将相变材料熔化成非晶相，这会降低能量效率^2,3,4,5。人们已经进行了各种研究，通过最小化器件尺寸来降低工作电流，但这会增加制造成本，同时复位电流的降低受到限制^6,7。在这里，我们展示了一种通过形成相变 SiTe _x纳米丝来降低 PCM 重置电流的装置。在不牺牲制造成本的情况下，所开发的纳米丝PCM实现了超低复位电流（约10μA），比高尺寸传统PCM的电流小约一到两个数量级。该器件保持了良好的存储特性，例如大开/关比、快速度、小变化和多级存储特性。我们的发现是为神经形态计算系统、边缘处理器、内存计算系统甚至传统内存应用开发新型计算范例的重要一步。