A review of compact modeling for phase change memory

Phase change memory (PCM) attracts wide attention for the memory-centric computing and neuromorphic computing. For circuit and system designs, PCM compact models are mandatory and their status are reviewed in this work. Macro models and physics-based models have been proposed in different stages of the PCM technology developments. Compact modeling of PCM is indeed more complex than the transistor modeling due to their multi-physics nature including electrical, thermal and phase transition dynamics as well as their interactions. Realizations of the PCM operations including threshold switching, set and reset programming in these models are diverse, which also differs from the perspective of circuit simulations. For the purpose of efficient and reliable designs of the PCM technology, open issues and challenges of the compact modeling are also discussed.