• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.23.1-23.1
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• 2008

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.200-201
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.222.2-222.2
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• 2015

A $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ nanowire (GST NW) phase change memory device is investigated with Joule heating electrodes. GST is the most promising phase change materials, thus has been studied for decades but atomic structure transition in the phase-change area of single crystalline phase-change material has not been clearly investigated. We fabricated a phase change memory (PCM) device consisting of GST NWs connected with WN electrodes. The GST NW has switching performance with the reset/set resistance ratio above $10^3$. We directly observed the changes in atomic structure between the ordered hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure and disordered amorphous phase of a reset-stop GST NW with cross-sectional STEM analysis. Amorphous areas are detected at the center of NW and side areas adjacent to heating electrodes. Direct imaging of phase change area verified the atomic structure transition from the migration and disordering of Ge and Sb atoms. Even with the repeated phase transitions, periodic arrangement of Te atoms is not significantly changed, thus acting as a template for recrystallization. This result provides a novel understanding on the phase-change mechanism in single crystalline phase-change materials.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2012

Electromigration in molten $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) was characterized using pulsed DC stress to an isolated line structure. When an electrical pulse was applied to the GST, GST lines were melted by Joule heating, and Ge and Sb atoms migrate to the cathode, whereas Te atoms migrate to the anode. This elemental separation in the molten GST was caused by an electrostatic force-induced electromigration. The effects of O-, N-, and Bi-doping on the electromigration were also investigated, and atomic mobility changes by the doping were investigated by quantifying $DZ^*$ values. The Bi -doping did not affect the $DZ^*$ values of the constituent atoms in the molten GST, but the D$DZ^*$ values decreased by O-doping and N-doping.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.226-226
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• 2010

Boron Nitride (BN) doped GeSbTe films were grown by the ion beam sputtering deposition (IBSD). The in-situ sheet resistance data and the x-ray diffraction patterns showed the crystallization is suppressed due to the BN incorporation. The phase change speed in BN doped GeSbTe films were investigated using the static tester equipped with nanosecond pulsed laser. The phase change speed for BN doped GST films become faster than the corresponding values for an undoped GST film. The Johnson-Mehl-Avrami(JMA) plot and Avrami coefficient for laser crystallization showed that the change in growth mode during the laser crystallization is a most important factor for the phase change speed in the BN doped GST films. The JMA results and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) images indicate that the origin of the change in the crystalline growth mode is due to an increase in the number of initial nucleation sites which is produced by the incorporated BN. In addition, the retension properties for the laser writing/erasing are remarkably improved in BN doped GeSbTe films owing to the stability of the incorporated BN.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2007

The crystallization temperature in GeTe solid electrolyte films was improved by in situ-nitrogen doping by rf magnetron co-sputtering technique at room temperature. The crystallization temperature of $250\;^{\circ}C$ in electrolyte films without nitrogen doping increased by approximately $300\;^{\circ}C$, $350\;^{\circ}C$, and above $400\;^{\circ}C$ in films deposited with nitrogen/argon flow ratios of 10, 20, and 30 %, respectively. A PMC memory device with $Ge_{45}Te_{55}$ solid electrolytes deposited with nitrogen/argon flow ratios of 20 % shows reproducible memory switching characteristics based on resistive switching at threshold voltage of 1.2 V with high $R_{off}/R_{on}$ ratios. Nitrogen doping into the silver saturated GeTe electrolyte films improves the crystallization temperature of electrolyte films and does not appear to have a negative impact on the switching characteristics of PMC memory devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.166-166
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• 2007

PRAM (phase-change random access memory)은 전류 펄스 인가에 따른 기록매질의 비정질-결정질 간 상변화와 그에 동반되는 저항변화를 이용하는 차세대 비휘발성 메모리 소자로서 연구되어지고 있다. 본 논문에서는 $(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}Se_x$ (x=0,0.05,0.1,0.15) 조성에 대한 벌크 및 박막시료를 제작하고 각 조성에 대한 상변화 특성을 분석하였다. XRD를 통해 열처리 온도에 따른 구조적 분석을 실시하였고 UV-Vis-IR spectrophotometer를 사용하여 박막의 광학적 특성을 분석하였다. 또한 각 조성의 결정화 속도를 비교하기 위해 static tester를 사용하여 레이저 펄스 시간에 대한 반사도 변화를 측정하였고 DSC를 통해 결정화 온도를 측정하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.174-175
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• 2007

A programmable metallization cell (PMC) memory structure with copper-saturated GeTe solid electrolyte films doped by nitrogen was prepared on a TiW bottom electrode by a co-sputtering technique at room temperature. The $Ge_{45}Te_{55}$ solid electrolyte films deposited with various $N_2$/Ar flow ratios showed an increase of crystallization temperature and especially, the electrolyte films deposited at $N_2$/Ar ratios above 30% showed a crystallization temperature above $400^{\circ}C$, resulting in surviving in a back-end process in semiconductor memory devices. The device with a 200 nm thick $Cu_{1-x}(Ge_{45}Te_{55})_x$ electrolyte switches at 1 V from an "off " state resistance, $R_{off}$, close to $10^5$ to an "on" resistance state, Ron, more than 20rders of magnitude lower for this programming current.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.93-98
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• 2005

Rewritable optical disk is one of the essential data storage media in these days, which takes advantage of the different optical properties in the amorphous and crystalline states of phase change materials. As well known, data transfer rate is one of the most important parameter of the phase change optical disks, which is mostly limited by the crystallization speed of recording media. Therefore, we doped Sn/Bi to $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ alloy in order to improve the crystallization speed and investigated the dependence of phase change characteristics on Sn/Bi doping concentration. The Sn/Bi doped $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ thin film was deposited by RF magnetron co-sputtering system and phase change characteristics were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), static tester, UV-visible spectrophotometer, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Optimum doping concentration of Bi and Sn were 5${\~}$6 at.$\%$ and the minimum time for crystallization was below than 20 ns. This improvement is correlated with the simple crystalline structure of Sn/Bi doped $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ and the reduced activation barrier arising from Sn/Bi doping. The results indicate that Sn/Bi might play an important role in the transformation kinetics of phase change materials..

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.261-266
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• 1992

In this paper, we investigated the stability of TeS1100-xTGeS1xT( x = 15,33,50 at. %) thin films by observing the transmittance and reflectance changes with annealing and exposure of diode laser(780nm). As results of transmittance changes in constant tenperature and humidity atmosphere, it was shown that TeS150TGeS150T thin film has the smallest transmittance change. From the XRD patterns, it was confirmed that the transmittance changes in TeS150TGeS150T thin film before and after annealing are due to crystalization. The transmittance changes in TeS150TGeS150T thin film with annealing are largest at diode laser wavelength and the trasmittance changes with laser exposure are decreased fast.