Phase change memory materials, devices and methods
AssigneeUniversity of Southampton
InventorsDaniel Hewak, Richard Curry, Arshad Mairaj, Robert Simpson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A new class of phase change materials has been discovered based on compounds of: Ga; lanthanide; and chalcogenide. This includes compounds of Ga, La, and S (GLS) as well as related compounds in which there is substitution of S with O, Se and/or Te. Moreover, La can be substituted with other lanthanide series elements. It has been demonstrated that this class of materials exhibit low energy switching. For example, the GLS material can provide an optical recording medium with erasability 3-5 dB greater than the erasability of GeSbTe (GST) material which is the standard material for phase change memories.
Claims67
A phase change memory device comprising a phase change material, wherein the phase change material is a compound of:
- (i) Ga;
- (ii) lanthanide;
- and
- (iii) chalcogenide.
A phase change memory device based on switching a phase change material between a first state and a second state, wherein the first state and the second state are first and second crystalline phases of the phase change material.
A method of operating a phase change memory device by selectively switching a compound of:
- (i) Ga;
- (ii) lanthanide;
- and
- (iii) chalcogenide
- between a first state and a second state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.