Influence of Zr on Thermal Stability and Microstructure of Sb2Te Film

Abstract

The influence of Zr on crystallization behavior of Sb2Te films were investigated systematically. With the increase of Zr from 0 to 8 at.%, the crystalline temperature of Zr-Sb2Te improves from 140 oC to 210 oC, and the data retention maintaining for 10 year significantly increases from 48.9 oC to 115.1 oC. All of the crystalline Zr-Sb2Te films retain the stable phase of Sb2Te without phase separation, which has advantages in endurance of the phase change device. The Zr atoms form chemical bonds with Sb and Te, which leads to the improvement in thermal stability of the amorphous Sb2Te. The grain size is significantly refined by Zr doping, which results in the increasement of the crystalline resistivity. These results could pave the way for Zr-Sb-Te to developing the nonvolatile and reconfigurable devices.