• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2022

In this paper, we investigated current (I)- and voltage (V)-sweeping properties in a double-stack structure, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅/Ti/W-doped Ge₈Sb₂Te₁₁, a candidate medium for applications to multilevel phase-change memory. 200-nm-thick and W-doped Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ and W-doped Ge₈Sb₂Te₁₁ films were deposited on p-type Si(100) substrate using magnetron sputtering system, and the sheet resistance was measured using 4 point-probe method. The sheet resistance of amorphous-phase W-doped Ge₈Sb₂Te₁₁ film was about 1 order larger than that of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ film. The I- and V-sweeping properties were measured using sourcemeter, pulse generator, and digital multimeter. The speed of amorphous-to-multilevel crystallization was evaluated from a graph of resistance vs. pulse duration (t) at a fixed applied voltage (12 V). All the double-stack cells exhibited a two-step phase change process with the multilevel memory states of high-middle-low resistance (HR-MR-LR). In particular, the stable MR state is required to guarantee the reliability of the multilevel phase-change memory. For the Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (150 nm)/Ti (20 nm)/W-Ge₈Sb₂Te₁₁ (50 nm), the phase transformations of HR→MR and MR→LR were observed at t<30ns and t<65ns, respectively. We believe that a high speed and stable multilevel phase-change memory can be optimized by the double-stack structure of proper Ge-Sb-Te films separated by a barrier metal (Ti).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.133-138
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• 2017

We evaluated the structural, electrical and optical properties of tungsten (W)-doped $Ge_8Sb_2Te_{11}$ thin films. In a previous work, GeSbTe alloys were doped with different materials in an attempt to improve thermal stability. 200 mm thick $Ge_8Sb_2Te_{11}$ and W-doped $Ge_8Sb_2Te_{11}$ films were deposited on p-type Si (100) and glass substrates using a magnetron co-sputtering system at room temperature. The fabricated films were annealed in a furnace in the $0{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ temperature range. The structural properties were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (X'pert PRO, Phillips). The results showed increased crystallization temperature ($T_c$) leading to thermal stability in the amorphous state. The optical properties were analyzed using an UV-Vis-IR spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, U-3501, range : 300~3,000 nm). The results showed an increase in the crystalline material optical energy band gap ($E_{op}$) and an increase in the $E_{op}$ difference (${\Delta}E_{op}$). This is a good effect to reduce memory device noise. The electrical properties were analyzed using a 4-point probe (CNT-series). This showed increased sheet resistance ($R_s$), which reduces programming current in the memory device.