Minimizing the Programming Power of Phase Change Memory by Using Graphene Nanoribbon Edge-Contact

Nonvolatile phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) is regarded as one of the promising candidates for emerging mass storage in the era of Big Data. However, relatively high programming energy hurdles the further reduction of power consumption in PCRAM. Utilizing narrow edge-contact of graphene can effectively reduce the active volume of phase change material in each cell, and therefore realize low-power operation. Here, it demonstrates that the power consumption can be reduced to ≈53.7 fJ in a cell with ≈3 nm-wide graphene nanoribbon (GNR) as edge-contact, whose cross-sectional area is only ≈1 nm² . It is found that the polarity of the bias pulse determines its cycle endurance in the asymmetric structure. If a positive bias is applied to the graphene electrode, the endurance can be extended at least one order longer than the case with a reversal of polarity. In addition, the introduction of the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) multilayer leads to a low resistance drift and a high programming speed in a memory cell. The work represents a great technological advance for the low-power PCRAM and can benefit in-memory computing in the future.