Investigation of the Properties of Al Incorporated into Sb₂Te₃ Phase Change Material

Abstract:

We report that crystallization property of amorphous Sb₂Te₃ can be significantly improved via Al doping. However, the effect of Al on the structure and electrical properties of crystalline Sb₂Te₃ is not clear, which is valuable for phase change memory. In this work, we find that Al addition could increase the crystallization temperature and change the structure. The results show that both nucleation and growth of crystallite are suppressed by Al doping. Based on ab initio calculation, we have validated the formations of Al-Sb and Al-Te bonds in doped films and the effect of Al on the structure and properties of crystalline Sb₂Te₃. Especially for 10 at% Al doped Sb₂Te₃ (Al-Sb-Te) film, which exhibits better thermal stability and might be a good candidate material for phase change memory.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 950)
• Pages: 7-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.950.7
• Online since: June 2014
• Authors: Fen Fen Wei, Tao Kong, Lin Shi, Rong Huang, Jie Zhang, Guo Sheng Cheng*
• Keywords: Chalcogenide Material, Crystallization, Electrical Properties, Phase Change

References

[1] M. Wuttig and N. Yamada, Nature Mater. 6, 824 (2007).

[2] H. S. P. Wong, S. Raoux, S. Kim, J. L. Liang, J. P. Reifenberg, B. Rajendran, M. Asheghi, and K. E. Goodson, Proc. IEEE 98, 2201 (2010).

DOI: 10.1109/jproc.2010.2070050

[3] M. Chen, K. A. Rubin, R. W. Barton, Appl. Phys. Lett. 49, 502 (1986).

[4] Y. Lu, S. Song, Y. Gong, Z. Song, F. Rao, L. Wu, B. Liu, and D. Yao, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 243111 (2011).

[5] H. R. Martijn, M. Lankhorst, L. Pieterson, M. Schijndel, B. Jacobs, and J. Rijpers, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42, 863 (2003).

[6] B. Liu, Z. Song, S. Feng, and B. Chen, Microelectron. Eng. 82, 168 (2005).

[7] N. Yamada, E. Ohno, K. Nishiuchi, N. Akahira, and M. Takao, J. Appl. Phys. 69 (5), 2849 (1991).

[8] X. Shen, G. X. Wang, R. P. Wang, S. X. Dai, L. C. Wu, Y. M. Chen, T. F. Xu, and Q. H. Nie, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 131902 (2013).

[9] Z. Wu, G. Zhang, Y. Park, S. D. Kang, H. K. Lyeo, D. S. Jeong, J. H. Jeong, K. No, and B. K. Cheong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 143505 (2011).

DOI: 10.1063/1.3641470

[10] M. H. Jang, S. J. Park, D. H. Lim, S. J. Park, M. H. Cho, D. H. Ko, M. Y. Heo, H. C. Sohn, and S. O. Kim, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 052112 (2010).

[11] Y. Yin, H. Sone, and S. Hosaka, J. Appl. Phys. 102, 064503 (2007).

[12] H. J. Wu and S. W. Chen, J. Alloy. Compd. 509, 656 (2011).

[13] G. B. Beneventi, L. Perniola, V. Sousa, E. Gourvest, S. Maitrejean and J. C. Bastien, Solid State Electron. 197, 65 (2011).

[14] A. V. Kolobov, P. Fons, A. I. Frenkel, A. L. Ankudinov, J. Tominaga and T. Uruga, Nature. Mater. 3 703(2004).

DOI: 10.1038/nmat1215

[15] S. K. Mishra, S. Satpathy, and O. Jepsen, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter. 9, 461(1997).

[16] J. Hafner, J. Comput. Chem. 29, 2044 (2008).

[17] J. P. Perdew and Y. Wang, Phys. Rev. B. 46, 12947 (1992).

[18] J. P. Perdew, K. Burke, and M. Ernzerhof, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996).