High thermal stability Sb{sub 3}Te-TiN{sub 2} material for phase change memory application
- State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Micro-system and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 200050 Shanghai (China)
For phase change memory (PCM) applications, it has been widely accepted that δ phase Sb-Te has fast operation speed and good phase stability. However, the fast growth crystallization mechanism will cause poor amorphous phase stability and overlarge grain size. We introduce TiN{sub 2} into δ phase Sb-Te (Sb{sub 3}Te) to enhance the amorphous thermal stability and refine the grain size. With TiN{sub 2} incorporating, the temperature for 10-year data retention increases from 79 °C to 124 °C. And the grain size decreases to dozens of nanometers scale. Based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy results, we knew that nitrogen atoms bond with titanium, forming disorder region at the grain boundary of Sb{sub 3}Te-TiN{sub 2} (STTN). Thus, STTN has a quite different crystallization mechanism from Sb{sub 3}Te. Furthermore, PCM device based on STTN can realize reversible phase change under 20 ns electrical pulse.
- OSTI ID:
- 22399131
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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