Improved thermal and electrical properties of nitrogen-doped Ge-rich Ge 3Sb 2Te 5 for phase-change memory application

Abstract

The thermal and electrical-property changes of 2.02 at.% nitrogen-doped Ge-rich Ge 3Sb 2Te 5 (NGST) were investigated. The crystallization temperature was 180 °C. The corresponding activation energy was 2.96 eV. The maximum temperature for a 10 year data lifetime was estimated to be 97 °C. NGST films showed retarded crystallization to a higher temperature, and higher resistivity in the crystalline state, compared to pure Ge 2Sb 2Te 5 (GST) films. An NGST-based cell showed relatively low power consumption and better contrast resistance than obtained with GST. The addition of N and Ge to the Ge 2Sb 2Te 5 film improves both the thermal stability and electrical properties. This work demonstrated the great promise of NGST composite films for application in phase-change memory (PCM).