Abstract
The thermal stability of a Ge2Sb2Te5 chalcogenide layer in contact with titanium and titanium nitride metallic thin films has been investigated mainly using x-ray diffraction and elastic nuclear backscattering techniques. Without breaking vacuum, Ti and TiN have been deposited on Ge2Sb2Te5 material using magnetron sputtering. Thermal treatments have been performed in a 10−7 mbar vacuum furnace. On annealing up to 450°C, the TiN metallic film does not interact with the chalcogenide film, but at the same time adhesion problems and instabilities in contact resistance arise. To improve the adhesion and eventually stabilize the contact resistance, an interfacial Ti layer has been considered. At 300°C, a TiTe2 compound is formed by interacting with Te segregated from the Ge2Sb2Te5 layer. At higher temperatures, the Ti layer decomposes the chalcogenide film, forming several compounds tentatively identified as GeTe, Ge3Ti5, Ge5Ti6, TiTe2,, and Sb2Te3. It has been found that the properties of the Ge2Sb2Te5 film can be retained by controlling the decomposition rate of the chalcogenide layer, which is achieved by providing a limited supply of Ti and/or by depositing a Te-rich Ge2Sb2Te5 film.
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