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Origin of radiation tolerance in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 phase-change random-access memory material.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Konstantinou, Konstantinos  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1291-817X
Lee, Tae Hoon 
Mocanu, Felix C 
Elliott, Stephen R 

Abstract

The radiation hardness of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 phase-change random-access memory material has been elucidated by ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations. Ionizing radiation events have been modeled to investigate their effect on the atomic and electronic structure of the glass. Investigation of the short- and medium-range order highlights a structural recovery of the amorphous network after exposure to the high-energy events modeled in this study. Analysis of the modeled glasses reveals specific structural rearrangements in the local atomic geometry of the glass, as well as an increase in the formation of large shortest-path rings. The electronic structure of the modeled system is not significantly affected by the ionizing radiation events, since negligible differences have been observed before and after irradiation. These results provide a detailed insight into the atomistic structure of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 after irradiation and demonstrate the radiation hardness of the glass matrix.

Description

Keywords

molecular dynamics, phase-change memory, radiation damage, stochastic boundary conditions, thermal spike

Journal Title

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0027-8424
1091-6490

Volume Title

115

Publisher

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N022009/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015552/1)