arXiv subjects

Christoph Weilenmann

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph Weilenmann.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Elemental Germanium Phase-Change Memory

Phase-change memory (PCM) is a mature technology for fast, scalable, non-volatile data storage, with applications spanning embedded memory, as well as in-memory and neuromorphic computing. PCM predominantly relies on chalcogenide alloys, with $\mathrm{Ge_2Sb_2Te_5}$ (GST) as the industry standard. Yet in these alloys, the individual Ge, Sb, and Te atoms redistribute upon cycling, causing stochastic operation and ultimately device failure. To address this issue, elemental antimony was proposed as a PCM material, but it exhibits a metastable amorphous state that prevents reliable data retention. Moreover, tellurium and antimony can contaminate complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) production lines or act as unintended dopants, restricting manufacturing of PCM to dedicated fabs. Here we introduce elemental germanium (Ge) as a CMOS-native phase-change material that overcomes these fundamental limitations. In a vertical PCM cell architecture, Ge enables sub-nanosecond crystallization (240 ps, 40 times faster than GST), non-volatile data storage with excellent thermal stability ($>$110 °C for 10 years vs. $\sim$87 °C for GST), and a resistance drift coefficient approximately 60% lower than in GST. These results establish pure Ge, a standard semiconductor, as an alternative to chalcogenide phase-change materials, achieving superior performance in key metrics and enabling phase-change memory to be fabricated in standard semiconductor facilities.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Multiscale Modeling of Metal/Oxide/Metal Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory Cells: from Ab Initio to Finite Element Calculations

We present a multiscale simulation framework to compute the current vs. voltage (I-V ) characteristics of metal/oxide/metal structures building the core of conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM) cells and to shed light on their resistance switching properties. The approach relies on a finite element model whose input material parameters are extracted either from ab initio or from machine-learned empirical calculations. The applied techniques range from molecular dynamics and nudged elastic band to electronic and thermal quantum transport. Such an approach drastically reduces the number of fitting parameters needed and makes the resulting modeling environment more accurate than traditional ones. The developed computational framework is then applied to the investigation of an Ag/a-SiO2/Pt CBRAM, reproducing experimental data very well. Moreover, the relevance of Joule heating is assessed by considering various cell geometries. It is found that self-heating manifests itself in devices with thin conductive filaments with few-nanometer diameters and at current concentrations in the 10s-microampere range. With the proposed methodology it is now possible to explore the potential of not-yet fabricated memory cells and to reliably optimize their design.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Conductance-dependent Photoresponse in a Dynamic SrTiO3 Memristor for Biorealistic Computing

Modern computers perform pre-defined operations using static memory components, whereas biological systems learn through inherently dynamic, time-dependent processes in synapses and neurons. The biological learning process also relies on global signals - neuromodulators - who influence many synapses at once depending on their dynamic, internal state. In this study, using optical radiation as a global neuromodulatory signal, we investigate nanoscale SrTiO3 (STO) memristors that can act as solid-state synapses. Via diverse sets of measurements, we demonstrate that the memristor's photoresponse depends on the electrical conductance state, following a well-defined square root relation. Additionally, we show that the conductance decays after photoexcitation with time constants in the range of 1 - 10 s and that this effect can be reliably controlled using an electrical bias. These properties in combination with our device's low power operation (< 1pJ per optical pulse) and small measurement variability may pave the way for space- and energy-efficient implementations of complex biological learning processes in electro-optical hardware.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2025

Termination-Dependent Resistive Switching in SrTiO$_3$ Valence Change Memory Cells

Valence change memory (VCM) cells based on SrTiO$_3$ (STO), a perovskite oxide, are a promising type of emerging memory device. While the operational principle of most VCM cells relies on the growth and dissolution of one or multiple conductive filaments, those based on STO are known to exhibit a distinctive, 'interface-type' switching, which is associated with the modulation of the Schottky barrier at their active electrode. Still, a detailed picture of the processes that lead to interface-type switching is not available. In this work, we use a fully atomistic and ab initio model to study the resistive switching of a Pt-STO-Ti stack. We identify that the termination of the crystalline STO plays a decisive role in the switching mechanism, depending on the relative band alignment between the material and the Pt electrode. In particular, we show that the accumulation of oxygen vacancies at the Pt side can be at the origin of resistive switching in TiO$_2$-terminated devices by lowering the conduction band minimum of the STO layer, thus facilitating transmission through the Schottky barrier. Moreover, we investigate the possibility of filamentary switching in STO and reveal that it is most likely to occur at the Pt electrode of the SrO-terminated cells.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Single Neuromorphic Memristor closely Emulates Multiple Synaptic Mechanisms for Energy Efficient Neural Networks

Biological neural networks do not only include long-term memory and weight multiplication capabilities, as commonly assumed in artificial neural networks, but also more complex functions such as short-term memory, short-term plasticity, and meta-plasticity - all collocated within each synapse. Here, we demonstrate memristive nano-devices based on SrTiO3 that inherently emulate all these synaptic functions. These memristors operate in a non-filamentary, low conductance regime, which enables stable and energy efficient operation. They can act as multi-functional hardware synapses in a class of bio-inspired deep neural networks (DNN) that make use of both long- and short-term synaptic dynamics and are capable of meta-learning or "learning-to-learn". The resulting bio-inspired DNN is then trained to play the video game Atari Pong, a complex reinforcement learning task in a dynamic environment. Our analysis shows that the energy consumption of the DNN with multi-functional memristive synapses decreases by about two orders of magnitude as compared to a pure GPU implementation. Based on this finding, we infer that memristive devices with a better emulation of the synaptic functionalities do not only broaden the applicability of neuromorphic computing, but could also improve the performance and energy costs of certain artificial intelligence applications.

cs.NE↗