Amorphous-to-Crystalline Phase Transition of (InTe)x(GeTe) Thin Films

The crystallization speed (v) of amorphous (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) films and their thermal, optical and electrical behaviors have been investigated using nano-pulse scanner (wavelength = 658 nm, laser beam diameter < 2 ${\mu}m$), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 4-point probe and UV-vis-IR spectrophotometer. These results were compared with those of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) film, comprehensively utilized for phase-change random access memory (PRAM). Both v-value and thermal stability of (InTe)$_{0.1}$(GeTe) and (InTe)$_{0.3}$(GeTe) films could be enhanced in comparison with those of the GST. Contrarily, the v-value in the (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film was so drastically deteriorated that we could not quantitatively evaluate it. This deterioration is thought because amorphous (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film has relatively high reflectance, resulting in too low absorption to cause the crystallization. Conclusively, it could be thought that a proper compositional (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) films (e.g., x < 0.3) may be good candidates with both high crystallization speed and thermal stability for PRAM application.

(InTe)x(GeTe) 박막의 비정질-결정질 상변화