Integrating carbon-based nanoelectronics with chalcogenide phase change memory

Phase change memory (PCM) is a promising candidate for next-generation non-volatile data storage, though its high programming current has been a major concern. By utilizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene as interconnects to induce phase change in ultra small regions (∼20 nm) of Ge
2
Sb
2
Te
5
(GST), we are able to build ultra-low power PCM devices. Normal memory operations are demonstrated with exceptionally low current (< 5 µA) and power consumption, nearly two orders of magnitude lower than state-of-the-art. Electrical characterization shows that switching voltages in PCM with both CNT and graphene electrodes are scalable to sub-1 V. Our experiments also pave the way to carbon nanoelectronics with integrated PCM data storage.