Local structure effects of carbon-doping on the phase change material Ge2Sb2Te5

Langhout, John D.; Alverson, Danielle N.; Ginter, Colton; Ravel, Bruce; Adams, David P.; Butala, Megan M.

doi:10.1039/d4tc01082e

Local structure effects of carbon-doping on the phase change material Ge₂Sb₂Te₅

Journal Article · Wed May 08 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of Materials Chemistry C

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/d4tc01082e· OSTI ID:2589180

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University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ is used in phase change memory, a nonvolatile memory technology, due to its phase change properties. The primary advantage of phase change memory over the state-of-the-art (flash memory) is its simple and small device geometry, which allows for denser nodes and lower power consumption. In phase change memory, resistive heating induces fast switching between the high resistance amorphous and low resistance crystalline phases, corresponding to storage of low and high digital states, respectively. However, the instability of the amorphous phase of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ presents issues with processing and long-term data storage; such issues can be resolved by C doping, which stabilizes the amorphous phase and raises the crystallization temperature. To better understand the local structural effects of C doping on Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, in situ Ge K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements were taken during heating of films with various C doping concentrations. Here, the range of structural transformation temperatures derived from X-ray absorption near-edge structure analysis across the C doping series proved narrower than crystallization temperatures reported in similar in situ X-ray diffraction experiments, which may reflect changes in local structure that precede long-range ordering during crystallization. In addition, rigorous extended X-ray absorption fine structure fitting across and between temperature series revealed effects of C doping on the rigidity of Ge–Te bonds at low (2 at% and 4 at%) C concentrations.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525; SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 2589180

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2348964

Journal Information:: Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Journal Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry C Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 12; ISSN 2050-7534; ISSN 2050-7526

Publisher:: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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