Simultaneous thermal stability and phase change speed improvement of Sn15Sb85 thin film through erbium doping

Abstract

In general, there is a trade off between the phase change speed and thermal stability in chalcogenide phase change materials, which leads to sacrifice the one in order to ensure the other. For improving the performance, doping is a widely applied technological process. Here, we fabricated Er doped Sn15Sb85 thin films by magnetron sputtering. Compared with the pure Sn15Sb85, we show that Er doped Sn15Sb85 thin films exhibit simultaneous improvement over the thermal stability and the phase change speed. Thus, our results suggest that Er doping provides the opportunity to solve the contradiction. The main reason for improvement of both thermal stability and crystallization speed is due to the existence of Er-Sb and Er-Sn bonds in Er doped Sn15Sb85 films. Hence, Er doped Sn15Sb85 thin films are promising candidates for the phase change memory application, and this method could be extended to other lanthanide-doped phase change materials.

Samarium doped Sn15Sb85: a promising material for phase change memory applications

“…It obviously indicates a better thermal stability of amorphous phase by Sm doping, which will be propitious to achieve more thermal stable PCM cells. In a previous paper, 19 we conrmed that the Er dopants (the content of $2.4%) can increase the T c of 43 C compared with pure Sn 15 Sb 85 . In this work, it shows that the Sm dopants ($1.5%) can increase the T c of 41 C, which indicates that Sm dopants would have much remarkable inuence.…”

“…In a previous work, we reported that the improvement of performance of SnSb alloys by Er doping was due to the existence of Er-Sb bonding. 19 To explore the change of chemical bonding states of Sb and Sn atoms, the XPS spectra were measured as shown in Fig. 4.…”

“…17 In phase change memory, we have reported that the Er can signicantly improve the performance of Sb-based alloys. [18][19][20][21] Unfortunately, very little work has been done to elucidate the effect of rare element on the phase change properties. It is urgent to explore the effect and their mechanisms in phase change materials by doping with other rare earth, such as Sm, Pr and etc.…”

Phase Change Behavior of Sn20Sb80/Si Nano-Composite Multilayer Thin Films

“…Before the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) measurement, three com- In phase switching process, the internal stress will change with the density fluctuation of phase change material. 22 The lower internal stress can ensure a good contact between the phase change film and electrode, thus improving the reliability and fatigue performance of PCM devices.…”

Simultaneously high thermal stability and ultra-fast phase change speed based on samarium-doped antimony thin films

“…8,12 Recently, a useful strategy for improving the thermal stability takes the doping path. 1,13 For example, the O, N, SiC 14 and Si 15 doping can enhance the thermal stability of Sb-based lms. However, very little study has been carried out to investigate rare earth (RE)doped chalcogenide lms.…”