Letter abstract
Nature Materials 6, 352 - 356 (2007)
Published online: 8 April 2007 | doi:10.1038/nmat1887
Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Geomaterials
Solution-phase deposition and nanopatterning of GeSbSe phase-change materials
Delia J. Milliron1, Simone Raoux1, Robert M. Shelby1 & Jean Jordan-Sweet2
Chalcogenide films with reversible amorphous–crystalline phase transitions have been commercialized as optically rewritable data-storage media1, 2, and intensive effort is now focused on integrating them into electrically addressed non-volatile memory devices (phase-change random-access memory or PCRAM)3, 4, 5. Although optical data storage is accomplished by laser-induced heating of continuous films, electronic memory requires integration of discrete nanoscale phase-change material features with read/write electronics. Currently, phase-change films are most commonly deposited by sputter deposition, and patterned by conventional lithography3. Metal chalcogenide films for transistor applications have recently been deposited by a low-temperature, solution-phase route6, 7, 8, 9. Here, we extend this methodology to prepare thin films and nanostructures of GeSbSe phase-change materials. We report the ready tuneability of phase-change properties in GeSbSe films through composition variation achieved by combining novel precursors in solution. Rapid, submicrosecond phase switching is observed by laser-pulse annealing. We also demonstrate that prepatterned holes can be filled to fabricate phase-change nanostructures from hundreds down to tens of nanometres in size, offering enhanced flexibility in fabricating PCRAM devices with reduced current requirements.
- IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, USA
- IBM Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
Correspondence to: Delia J. Milliron1 e-mail: milliron@us.ibm.com
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