Thermal analysis of an indirectly heat pulsed non-volatile phase change material microwave switch

Journal Article · Thu Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4891239· OSTI ID:22314566

El-Hinnawy, Nabil; Borodulin, Pavel; Wagner, Brian P.; King, Matthew R.; Jones, Evan B.; Howell, Robert S.; Lee, Michael J. ^[1]

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1. Northrop Grumman Corp., Electronic Systems, P.O. Box 1521, Baltimore, Maryland 21203 (United States)

We show the finite element simulation of the melt/quench process in a phase change material (GeTe, germanium telluride) used for a radio frequency switch. The device is thermally activated by an independent NiCrSi (nickel chrome silicon) thin film heating element beneath a dielectric separating it electrically from the phase change layer. A comparison is made between the predicted and experimental minimum power to amorphize (MPA) for various thermal pulse powers and pulse time lengths. By including both the specific heat and latent heat of fusion for GeTe, we find that the MPA and the minimum power to crystallize follow the form of a hyperbola on the power time effect plot. We also find that the simulated time at which the entire center GeTe layer achieves melting accurately matches the MPA curve for pulse durations ranging from 75–1500 ns and pulse powers from 1.6–4 W.

• OSTI ID: 22314566
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DIAGRAMS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FUSION HEAT
GERMANIUM
GERMANIUM TELLURIDES
MELTING
MICROWAVE RADIATION
NICKEL
PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SILICON
SIMULATION
SPECIFIC HEAT
SWITCHES
THERMAL ANALYSIS
THIN FILMS