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The magnitude of the reset current of doped Sb2Te line cells is determined. The lowest measured reset current is 280μA. It is shown that the larger part of the program energy flows into the surrounding dielectric of the line. Extrapolation of the results in a scaling scenario reveals that a minimum reset current of 50μA can be achieved using a supply voltage of 1.2V. The set voltage is shown to be limited by the threshold voltage. Finally, it is observed that the threshold switching event has a voltage dependent delay time.

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Electrical characterisation of metal to Phase Change Material (PCM) contacts is necessary for optimum power transfer during switching of a Phase Change Random Access Memory (PCRAM) cell. In this article, titanium tungsten (Ti o . 3Wo . 7 ) to two phase change materials; doped-Sb-Te and GezSb z Te, are characterised using Circular Transfer Length Method (CTLM) structures. A metal lift off process with a maximum process temperature of 120°C allows processing of these CTLM structures below the crystallization temperature of PCM used. The specific contact resistance for TiW-PCM contacts with PCM in amorphous (high resistive) and crystalline (low resistive) phases is extracted from these CTLM measurements.