The realization and development of Society 5.0 requires the development of semiconductor memory materials that save energy and operate at high speeds.
Assistant Prof. Yi Shuang (AIMR), Prof. Yuji Sudo (Graduate School of Engineering, AIMR), Assistant Prof. Qian Chen (AIMR, NICHe at the time of the research), Prof. Momoji Kubo (IMR, NICHe), Yuta Saito, Shogo Hatayama (AIST) and Prof. Paul Fons (Keio University) have demonstrated that NbTe4, a two-dimensional layered material, can undergo an amorphous/crystalline phase change, resulting in an electrical charge transfer that is more than an order of magnitude larger than that in the conventional materials. The research group discovered that NbTe4, a two-dimensional layered material, undergoes an amorphous/crystalline phase change, resulting in a large electrical resistance change of more than one order of magnitude.
Although the amorphization temperature (i.e., melting point) of NbTe4 is extremely low at about 450°C, its crystallization temperature is as high as about 270°C.
This means that NbTe4 is easily amorphized and its amorphous phase is thermally stable.
Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the amorphous/crystalline phase change occurs in an extremely short period of time (tens of nanoseconds).
NbTe4, which combines a high crystallization temperature with a low melting point and a fast phase change, is expected to become a new material for nonvolatile memory that enables energy saving, fast operation, and high temperature use.
The results were published online in Advanced Materials on June 20, 2023.
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