Phase-change memory

Abstract

A phase-change memory (10) for the non-volatile storage of binary contents stores the binary contents electrically and/or optically in a non-volatile manner by locally switching a material (18) between an amorphous and a crystalline phase. The state with respect to the electrical conductivity of the material (18) and/or the reflection properties of the material (18) determines the information content of the phase-change memory (10). A method for non-volatile storage of binary contents in a phase-change memory (10), which stores the binary contents electrically and/or optically in a non-volatile manner by locally switching a material (18) between an amorphous and a crystalline phase, whereby the state with respect to the electrical conductivity of the material (18) and/or the reflection properties of the material (18) determines the information content of the phase-change memory (10).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.