Effects of oxygen incorporation on the crystallization characteristics and crystal structure of Ge 8 Sb 92 films were systematically investigated. The amorphous-to-crystalline transition was studied by in situ resistance measurement. The thermal stability, electrical resistance and band gap of Ge 8 Sb 92 material increase significantly by the addition of oxygen. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy illustrate that a small amount of oxygen dopant can inhibit the grain growth and limit the grain size because of the formation of Ge and Sb oxide. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray reflectivity results indicate that the film surface becomes smoother and the film thickness change becomes smaller after oxygen doping. Phase change memory cells based on oxygen-doped Ge 8 Sb 92 film were fabricated to evaluate the electrical properties as well. All the results demonstrate that suitable incorporation of oxygen is an effective way to enhance the comprehensive performance of Ge 8 Sb 92 thin films for phase change memory application.

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Superlattice-like (SLL) SnSb4/Ge thin films were studied by thermal, electrical and optical methods.