High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Electrically-Driven Reversible Phase Change in Ge2Sb2Te5 Nanowires

Yeonwoong Jung, Sung-Wook Nam, and Ritesh Agarwal*


Nano Lett., Article ASAP

DOI: 10.1021/nl104537c

By combining high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization and electrical measurements on a unique device platform, we study the reversible electrically-driven phase-change characteristics of self-assembled Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ nanowires. Detailed HRTEM analyses are used to correlate and understand the effect of full and intermediate structural transformations on the measured electrical properties of the nanowire devices. The study demonstrates that our unique approach has the potential to provide new information regarding the dynamic structural and electrical states of phase-change materials at the nanoscale, which will aid the design of future phase-change memory devices.