This book describes the physics of phase change memory devices, starting from basic operation to reliability issues. The book gives a comprehensive overlook of PCM with particular attention to the electrical transport and the phase transition physics between the two states. The book also contains design engineering details on PCM cell architecture, PCM cell arrays (including electrical circuit management), as well as the full spectrum of possible future applications.

Semiconductor Memories and Systems provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of semiconductor memory at the technology and system levels. After an introduction on market trends and memory applications, the book focuses on mainstream technologies, illustrating their current status, challenges and opportunities, with special attention paid to scalability paths. Technologies discussed include static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), non-volatile memory (NVM), and NAND flash memory. Embedded memory and requirements and system level needs for storage class memory are also addressed. Each chapter covers physical operating mechanisms, fabrication technologies, and the main challenges to scalability. Finally, the work reviews the emerging trends for storage class memory, mainly focusing on the advantages and opportunities of phase change based memory technologies.