Phase change random access memory (PCM) appears to be the strongest candidate for next-generation high density nonvolatile memory. The fabrication of ultrahigh density PCM depends heavily on the thin film growth technique for the phase changing chalcogenide material. In this study, TiSb2Te4 (TST) thin films were deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) method using TiCl4, SbCl3, (Et3Si)2Te as precursors. The threshold voltage for the cell based on thermal ALD-deposited TST is about 2.0 V, which is much lower than that (3.5 V) of the device based on PVD-deposited Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) with the identical cell architecture. Tests of TST-based PCM cells have demonstrated a fast switching rate of ~100 ns. Furthermore, because of the lower melting point and thermal conductivities of TST materials, TST-based PCM cells exhibit 19% reduction of pulse voltages for Reset operation compared with GST-based PCM cells. These results show that thermal ALD is an attractive method for the preparation of phase change materials.
Recently, carbon-doped Ge2Sb2Te5 (CGST) has been proved to be a high promising material for future phase change memory technology. In this article, reactive ion etching (RIE) of phase change material CGST films is studied using CF4/Ar gas mixture. The effects on gas-mixing ratio, RF power, gas pressure on the etch rate, etch profile and roughness of the CGST film are investigated. Conventional phase change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) films are simultaneously studied for comparison. Compared with GST film, 10 % more CF4 is needed for high etch rate and 10% less CF4 for good anisotropy of CGST due to more fluorocarbon polymer deposition during CF4 etching. The trends of etch rates and roughness of CGST with varying RF power and chamber pressure are similar with those of GST. Furthermore, the etch rate of CGST are more easily to be saturated when higher RF power is applied.
The reliability and operation speed have long been two great obstacles in phase change memory technology. Thus (SiC)0.85-Sb3Te alloy was proposed to be a new-type phase change material due to its high crystallization temperature (199.7°C) and good data retention ability (118.9°C for 10-year archival life) in this work. The stress accompanying the phase transition in (SiC)0.85-Sb3Te is smaller than those in pure Sb3Te and the traditional material, Ge2Sb2Te5. This is attributed to the fine crystal grain size due to SiC doping, which contributes to the ultrafast reversible operation (5 ns) and good endurance (2.3 × 104 cycles) of (SiC)0.85-Sb3Te based phase change memory cells.
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