Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 37: Poster II: Focused electron beam induced processing for the fabrication of nanostructures (focused session, jointly with O); Nanoengineered thin films; Layer properties: electrical, optical, and mechanical properties; Thin film characterization: structure analysis and composition (XRD, TEM, XPS, SIMS, RBS,..); Application of thin films

DS 37.46: Poster

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 15:00–17:00, Poster E

Thermal conductivity measurements of (GeTe)_1−x(SnTe)_x phase-change alloys — •Kai Hugenroth, Karl Simon Siegert, Felix Lange, Roland Sittner, and Matthias Wuttig — 1. Physikalisches Institut IA, RWTH Aachen, 52064 Aachen

Phase-change materials (PCM) are a versatile class of materials with a broad range of applications, for instance as memory cells. For decades, PCM’s were the standard material for optical data storage applications, such as CD-RW’s and DVD-RW’s. They are also promising for the development of electronic memories, such as Random Access Memory (PC-RAM), capitalizing on the rapid crystalline-amorphous phase-transition which occurs within nanoseconds.

This work focuses on the thermal conductivity κ of phase change materials, along the pseudo binary line from GeTe to SnTe [1]. κ is a central attribute for memory applications. Low thermal conductivities enable the design of very small memory-cells in the order of a few nanometers, thus allowing further miniaturization of mobile electronic devices. This is a highly important aspect, concerning feature sizes of alternative approaches, such as classic D-RAM or Flash-memory.

The measurements of κ are conducted at low temperatures from 40 K to 300 K, using the 3ω-method. A new measurement scheme for low temperatures is developed. The impact of different heater materials is taken into account, since deposition, adhesion and temperature stability as well as 3ω-compatibility are important aspects for successful analysis.

[1] D. Lencer et al. Nature Materials 7, 972-7 (2008).