On the dynamic resistance and reliability of phase change memory

A novel characterization metric for phase change memory based on the measured cell resistance during RESET programming is introduced. We show that this dasiadynamic resistancepsila (R
_d
) is inversely related to the programming current (I), as R
_d
= [A/I] + B. While the slope parameter A depends only on the intrinsic properties of the phase change material, the intercept B also depends on the effective physical dimensions of the memory element. We demonstrate that these two parameters provide characterization and insight into the degradation mechanisms of memory cells during operation.