Electrical and optical characterization of freestanding Ge 1 Sb 2 Te 4 nano-membranes integrated in coplanar strip lines

We developed a transfer and integration technique for freestanding Ge 1 Sb 2 Te 4 nano-membranes. A so-called laser micro annealing process for the precisely-local formation of low resistance Ge 1 Sb 2 Te 4 /Ti/Au ohmic contacts was optimized. Ultrafast switching effects were studied on nano-membrane devices after their implementation into a group III-nitride based optoelectronic circuit. Highly resistive switching was observed without any noticeable structural deterioration. Charge transport measurements indicate that current densities exhibit values in the "READ resp. SET/RESET" regime from 10 −6 down to 10 −11 A/μm 3 after ∼100 switching cycles. Our study on freestanding Ge 1 Sb 2 Te 4 nano-membranes contributes to a better understanding of charge transport related physical phenomena in novel chalcogenide material systems with high potential for future low energy consumption data storage devices.