Thermal conductivity of chalcogenide material with superlatticelike structure

Thermal conductivity of chalcogenide material with superlatticelike (SLL) structure is investigated using the 3 omega method and the molecular dynamics method. Both the measured and calculated results show that the thermal conductivity of SLL is lower than those of conventional chalcogenide materials and will decrease to a minimum as the number of interfaces increases. The Raman spectrum is introduced to study the phonon behavior of SLL and the "phonon mode vanishing" is proposed to explain its lower thermal conductivity. Finite-element analysis and phase change memory cell testing confirm the enhancement of cell performance for SLL with minimum thermal conductivity. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3562610]