Parallel Simulation of Fully Coupled Electrothermal Processes in Large-Scale Phase-Change Memory Arrays

Abstract

Numerical simulation of fully coupled electrothermal processes in phase-change memory (PCM) arrays is performed in this article. For realizing the ability in simulating the electrothermal responses of large-scale PCM arrays, an in-house parallel simulator based on domain decomposition method (DDM) and time-domain finite element method (FETD) is developed, with its performance evaluated in terms of accuracy and scalability. Then, thermal crosstalk in the PCM array is investigated using the developed simulator, and a diamond layer is introduced to suppress thermal crosstalk. Furthermore, the scaling effects of PCM arrays on their electrothermal performance are examined. A scheme for multibit PCM design is proposed, and the electrothermal characteristics of proposed 2-bit PCM cells and arrays are studied numerically.