Instability of nitrogen doped Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} for phase change memory application
- State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Laboratory of Nanotechnology, Shanghai Institute of Micro-system and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 200050 Shanghai (China)
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, 361005 Xiamen (China)
By means of experimental methods and ab initio total energy calculations, we have studied the stability and properties of nitrogen doped Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} (NST). The NST film displayed a higher crystallization temperature and sheet resistance than undoped Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} (ST) film. Nevertheless, the sheet resistance of the crystalline NST film unexpectedly increased as the temperature increased when the temperature was above 260 deg. C. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the nitrogen concentration and the Sb-N bonds were decreasing as the annealing temperature increased, and no nitrogen existed in the NST when annealed at 300 deg. C for 5 min. Our theoretical calculations showed that the incorporation of nitrogen into crystalline Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} was not energetically favorable, and the nitrogen atoms preferred forming chemical bonds with Sb atoms to Te atoms.
- OSTI ID:
- 22038762
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Phase change behavior in oxygen-incorporated Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} films
Effects of germanium and nitrogen incorporation on crystallization of N-doped Ge{sub 2+x}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} (x = 0,1) thin films for phase-change memory