Direct hexagonal transition of amorphous (Ge2Sb2Te5)0.9Se0.1 thin films

Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is well known for its phase change properties and applications in memory and data storage. Efforts are being made to improve its thermal stability and transition between amorphous and crystalline phases. Various elements are doped to GST to improve these properties. In this work, Se has been doped to GST to study its effect on phase change properties. Amorphous GST film crystallized in to rock salt (NaCl) type structure at 150 °C and then transformed to hexagonal structure at 250 °C. Interestingly, Se doped GST ((GST)0.9Se0.1) film crystallized directly into hexagonal phase and the intermediate phase of NaCl is not observed. The crystallization temperature (Tc) of (GST)0.9Se0.1 is around 200 °C, which is 50 °C higher than the Tc of GST. For (GST)0.9Se0.1, the threshold switching occurs at about 4.5 V which is higher than GST (3 V). Band gap (Eopt) values of as deposited films are calculated from Tauc plot which are 0.63 eV for GST and 0.66 eV for (GST)0.9Se0.1. The Eopt decreases for the films annealed at higher temperatures. The increased Tc, Eopt, the contrast in resistance and the direct transition to hexagonal phase may improve the data readability and thermal stability in the Se doped GST film.