Identification of the temperature-dependent thermal boundary resistance at a metal-phase change material

The time-resolved pump-probe technique has been implemented to study the temperature-dependent thermal boundary resistance (TBR) at Al-Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) interface, which is between metal and phase change semiconducting material. This study is made possible due to the accurate knowledge of the thermal properties (thermal conductivity and specific heat in the 20-400 degrees C temperature range) of the GST layer. The measure of the acoustic oscillation damping permits characterization of the adhesion at the Al-GST interface, a quantity that can be related to the temperature-dependent TBR in the 25-300 degrees C range.