An ever-rising demand for quicker computers is addressed by downsizing of devices, but this is becoming almost impossible to continue. To facilitate the speed of computers, a solution is to increase the number of computations performed per device. Multiple computations in phase-change “in-memory” logic devices have previously been achieved using crystallization, but they show long-switching times, often due to the trade-off between the crystallization times and stability of the initialized-amorphous phases. Here, we instead control melting phenomena to carry out logic computations. Ultra-rapid melting times and a wide range of computations were achieved. <i>Ab initio</i> molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and electrical measurements reveal the origin and kinetics of melting. These findings pave the route for developing computers that can perform calculations at well beyond current processing rates.

Ultrafast logic computation using nanostructured Ge–Sb–Te phase-change memory materials

256th National Meeting (2018)

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