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Title: Unraveling the Atomic Structure of Bulk Binary Ga–Te Glasses with Surprising Nanotectonic Features for Phase-Change Memory Applications

Abstract

Binary Ge-Te and ternary Ge-Sb-Te systems belong to flagship phase-change materials (PCMs) and are used in nonvolatile memory applications and neuromorphic computing. The working temperatures of these PCMs are limited by low-T glass transition and crystallization phenomena. Promising high-T PCMs may include gallium tellurides; however, the atomic structure and transformation processes for amorphous Ga-Te binaries are simply missing. Using high-energy X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy supported by first-principles simulations, we elucidate the short- and intermediate-range order in bulk glassy GaxTe1-x, 0.17 ≤ x ≤ 0.25, following their thermal, electric, and optical properties, revealing a semiconductor-metal transition above melting. We also show that a phase change in binary Ga-Te is characterized by a very unusual nanotectonic compression with the high internal transition pressure reaching 4-8 GPa, which appears to be beneficial for PCM applications increasing optical and electrical contrast between the SET and RESET states and decreasing power consumption.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [1];  [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1];  [5]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l’Atmosphère, Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, 59140 Dunkerque, France
  2. Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
  3. X-ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
  4. Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l’Atmosphère, Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, 59140 Dunkerque, France, ILIT RAS−Branch of the FSRC “Crystallography and Photonics” RAS, 140700 Shatura, Moscow Region, Russia
  5. ILIT RAS−Branch of the FSRC “Crystallography and Photonics” RAS, 140700 Shatura, Moscow Region, Russia
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1810592
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1828848
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH1135; AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Volume: 13 Journal Issue: 31; Journal ID: ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; phase-change materials; Ga-Te binaries; nanotectonic compression; first-principles simulations; X-ray diffraction; Raman spectroscopy; optical and electronic properties; liquids; tellurium; gallium; diffraction; amorphous materials

Citation Formats

Bokova, Maria, Tverjanovich, Andrey, Benmore, Chris J., Fontanari, Daniele, Sokolov, Anton, Khomenko, Maxim, Kassem, Mohammad, Ozheredov, Ilya, and Bychkov, Eugene. Unraveling the Atomic Structure of Bulk Binary Ga–Te Glasses with Surprising Nanotectonic Features for Phase-Change Memory Applications. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.1021/acsami.1c09070.
Bokova, Maria, Tverjanovich, Andrey, Benmore, Chris J., Fontanari, Daniele, Sokolov, Anton, Khomenko, Maxim, Kassem, Mohammad, Ozheredov, Ilya, & Bychkov, Eugene. Unraveling the Atomic Structure of Bulk Binary Ga–Te Glasses with Surprising Nanotectonic Features for Phase-Change Memory Applications. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c09070
Bokova, Maria, Tverjanovich, Andrey, Benmore, Chris J., Fontanari, Daniele, Sokolov, Anton, Khomenko, Maxim, Kassem, Mohammad, Ozheredov, Ilya, and Bychkov, Eugene. Wed . "Unraveling the Atomic Structure of Bulk Binary Ga–Te Glasses with Surprising Nanotectonic Features for Phase-Change Memory Applications". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c09070.
@article{osti_1810592,
title = {Unraveling the Atomic Structure of Bulk Binary Ga–Te Glasses with Surprising Nanotectonic Features for Phase-Change Memory Applications},
author = {Bokova, Maria and Tverjanovich, Andrey and Benmore, Chris J. and Fontanari, Daniele and Sokolov, Anton and Khomenko, Maxim and Kassem, Mohammad and Ozheredov, Ilya and Bychkov, Eugene},
abstractNote = {Binary Ge-Te and ternary Ge-Sb-Te systems belong to flagship phase-change materials (PCMs) and are used in nonvolatile memory applications and neuromorphic computing. The working temperatures of these PCMs are limited by low-T glass transition and crystallization phenomena. Promising high-T PCMs may include gallium tellurides; however, the atomic structure and transformation processes for amorphous Ga-Te binaries are simply missing. Using high-energy X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy supported by first-principles simulations, we elucidate the short- and intermediate-range order in bulk glassy GaxTe1-x, 0.17 ≤ x ≤ 0.25, following their thermal, electric, and optical properties, revealing a semiconductor-metal transition above melting. We also show that a phase change in binary Ga-Te is characterized by a very unusual nanotectonic compression with the high internal transition pressure reaching 4-8 GPa, which appears to be beneficial for PCM applications increasing optical and electrical contrast between the SET and RESET states and decreasing power consumption.},
doi = {10.1021/acsami.1c09070},
journal = {ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces},
number = 31,
volume = 13,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}

Journal Article:
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https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c09070

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