The feasibility of Sn, In, or Al doped ZnSb thin film as candidates for phase change material

Abstract

The potentials of Sn, In, or Al doped ZnSb thin film as candidates for phase change materials have been studied in this paper. It was found that the Zn-Sb bonds were broken by the addition of the dopants and homopolar Zn-Zn bonds and other heteropolar bonds, such as Sn-Sb, In-Sb, and Al-Sb, were subsequently formed. The existence of homopolar Sn-Sn and In-In bonds in Zn50Sb36Sn14 and Zn41Sb36In23 films, but no any Al-Al bonds in Zn35Sb30Al35 film, was confirmed. All these three amorphous films crystallize with the appearance of crystalline rhombohedral Sb phase, and Zn35Sb30Al35 film even exhibits a second crystallization process where the crystalline AlSb phase is separated out. The Zn35Sb30Al35 film exhibits a reversible phase change behavior with a larger Ea (∼4.7 eV), higher Tc (∼245 °C), better 10-yr data retention (∼182 °C), less incubation time (20 ns at 70 mW), and faster complete crystallization speed (45 ns at 70 mW). Moreover, Zn35Sb30Al35 film shows the smaller root-mean-square (1.654 nm) and less change of the thickness between amorphous and crystalline state (7.5%), which are in favor of improving the reliability of phase change memory.