Electrically Driven Reversible Phase Changes in Layered In₂Se₃ Crystalline Film

An unconventional phase-change memory (PCM) made of In₂Se₃, which utilizes reversible phase changes between a low-resistance crystalline β phase and a high-resistance crystalline γ phase is reported for the first time. Using a PCM with a layered crystalline film exfoliated from In₂Se₃ crystals on a graphene bottom electrode, it is shown that SET/RESET programmed states form via the formation/annihilation of periodic van der Waals' (vdW) gaps (i.e., virtual vacancy layers) in the stack of atomic layers and the concurrent reconfiguration of In and Se atoms across the layers. From density functional theory calculations, β and γ phases, characterized by octahedral bonding with vdW gaps and tetrahedral bonding without vdW gaps, respectively, are shown to have energy bandgap value of 0.78 and 1.86 eV, consistent with a metal-to-insulator transition accompanying the β-to-γ phase change. The monolithic In₂Se₃ layered film reported here provides a novel means to achieving a PCM based on melting-free, low-entropy phase changes in contrast with the GeTe–Sb₂Te₃ superlattice film adopted in interfacial phase-change memory.