Jean Jordan-Sweet

Crystallization properties of ultrathin phase change films

The crystallization behavior of ultrathin phase change films was studied using time-resolved x-ray diffraction (XRD). Thin films of variable thickness between 1 and 50nm of the phase change materials Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST), N-doped GST, Ge15Sb85, Sb2Te, and Ag- and In-doped Sb2Te were heated in a He atmosphere, and the intensity of the diffracted x-ray peaks was recorded. It was found for all materials that the crystallization temperature increases as the film thickness is reduced below 10nm. The increase depends on the material and can be as high as 200°C for the thinnest films. The thinnest films that show XRD peaks are 2nm for GST and N-GST, 1.5nm for Sb2Te and AgIn-Sb2Te, and 1.3nm for GeSb. This scaling behavior is very promising for the application of phase change materials to solid-state memory technology.

Direct observation of amorphous to crystalline phase transitions in nanoparticle arrays of phase change materials

We have used time-resolved x-ray diffraction to study the amorphous-crystalline phase transition in 20–80nm particles of the phase change materials Ge2Sb2Te5, nitrogen-doped Ge2Sb2Te5, Ge15Sb85, Sb2Te, and Sb2Te doped with Ag and In. We find that all samples undergo the phase transition with crystallization temperatures close to those of similarly prepared blanket films of the same materials with the exception of Sb2Te that shows the transition at a temperature that is about 40°C higher than that of blanket films. Some of the nanoparticles show a difference in crystallographic texture compared to thick films. Large area arrays of these nanoparticles were fabricated using electron-beam lithography, keeping the sample temperatures well below the crystallization temperatures so as to produce particles that were entirely in the amorphous phase. The observation that particles with diameters as small as 20nm can still undergo this phase transition indicates that phase change solid-state memory technology should...

Relaxed Si0.7Ge0.3 buffer layers for high‐mobility devices

The minimum epitaxial layer thickness required to produce relaxed, thermally stable, Si0.7Ge0.3 buffer layer structures for high electron‐ and hole‐mobility devices has been determined, using high resolution x‐ray diffraction. A 1.4‐μm‐thick layer, step graded to x=0.35, is sufficiently thick so that the residual strain in a uniform composition Si0.33Ge0.67 layer grown on top of it is essentially independent of thickness or growth temperature of the layer. Such structures are stable when annealed at 750 °C.

In situ x‐ray diffraction analysis of the C49–C54 titanium silicide phase transformation in narrow lines

The transformation of titanium silicide from the C49 to the C54 structure was studied using x‐ray diffraction of samples containing arrays of narrow lines of preformed C49 TiSi2. Using a synchrotron x‐ray source, diffraction patterns were collected at 1.5–2 °C intervals during sample heating at rates of 3 or 20 °C/s to temperatures of 1000–1100 °C. The results show a monotonic increase in the C54 transition temperature by as much as 180 °C with a decreasing linewidth from 1.0 to 0.1 μm. Also observed is a monotonic increase in (040) preferred orientation of the C54 phase with decreasing linewidth. The results demonstrate the power of in situ x‐ray diffraction of narrow line arrays as a tool to study finite size effects in thin‐film reactions.

Effect of Al and Cu doping on the crystallization properties of the phase change materials SbTe and GeSb

For the application of phase change materials in solid state memory devices it is very desirable to modify the crystallization properties such as the crystallization temperature Tx by doping in a predictable fashion. We have applied a model for the calculation of the glass transition temperature Tg of phase change materials as a function of material composition to predict the effect of Cu and Al doping for the phase change materials SbTe and GeSb. The model predicts an increase in Tg for Al and Cu doping of SbTe and Al doping of GeSb (for all Sb:Te and Ge:Sb ratios) while it predicts a decrease of Tg for Cu doping of GeSb. We confirmed experimentally that Al and Cu doping of Sb:Te=72:28 and Al doping of Ge:Sb=14:86 increase their Tx while Cu doping decreases Tx of Ge:Sb=14:86. The effect of a given dopant on Tg predicted by the model is shown to be a good indicator for the effect of this dopant on Tx.

Phase transitions in Ge-Sb phase change materials

Thin films of the phase change material Ge–Sb with Ge concentrations between 7.3 and 81.1 at. % were deposited by cosputtering from elemental targets. Their crystallization behavior was studied using time-resolved x-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray reflectivity, profilometry, optical reflectivity, and resistivity versus temperature measurements. It was found that the crystallization temperature increases with Ge content. Calculations of the glass transition temperature (which is a lower limit for the crystallization temperature Tx) also show an increase with Ge concentration closely tracking the measured values of Tx. For low Ge content samples, Sb x-ray diffraction peaks occurred during a heating ramp at lower temperature than Ge diffraction peaks. The appearance of Ge peaks is related to Ge precipitation and agglomeration. For Ge concentrations of 59.3 at. % and higher, Sb and Ge peaks occurred at the same temperature. Upon crystallization, film mass...

Evolution of strain relaxation in step‐graded SiGe/Si structures

Strain relaxation in a series of step‐graded SiGe/Si structures has been quantitatively investigated by high‐resolution x‐ray diffraction measurements. We show that beyond a critical thickness, dislocations nucleate continuously as layers with higher Ge mole fraction are added to the structure and that the mismatch strain at which nucleation occurs is therefore essentially constant. It had been found empirically that a lower growth temperature is required to suppress roughening of layers with higher Ge mole fraction, even in graded structures. We prove that this is not because the strain increases, but rather because of the lower melting temperature of layers with higher Ge content.

Phase formation and thermal stability of ultrathin nickel-silicides on Si(100)

The solid-state reaction and agglomeration of thin nickel-silicide films was investigated from sputter deposited nickel films (1–10 nm) on silicon-on-insulator (100) substrates. For typical anneals at a ramp rate of 3 °C/s, 5–10 nm Ni films react with silicon and form NiSi, which agglomerates at 550–650 °C, whereas films with a thickness of 3.7 nm of less were found to form an epitaxylike nickel-silicide layer. The resulting films show an increased thermal stability with a low electrical resistivity up to 800 °C.

Formation and morphological stability of NiSi in the presence of W, Ti, and Ta alloying elements

The formation and degradation of NiSi films has been studied when elements with a high melting point (W, Ta, and Ti) were added to pure Ni films as an alloying element. In situ techniques were used to characterize the phase stability and the morphological stability of the NiSi layers. Depending on the concentration of the alloying element, two distinct regimes could be distinguished. First, the addition of a small quantity of an alloying element (e.g., y) could be observed prior to NiSi formation. Furthermore, a significant increase was observed of the apparent activation energy for NiSi formation.

Phase change nanodot arrays fabricated using a self-assembly diblock copolymer approach

Self-assembling diblock copolymer, polystyrene-b-poly-4-vinylpyridine (PS-b-P4VP), was used as the template for fabricating phase change nanostructures. The high density GeSb nanodots were formed by etching into an amorphous GeSb thin film using silica hard mask which was patterned on top of polymer. The nanodot arrays are 15nm in diameter with 30nm spacing. This is smaller than most structures obtained by e-beam lithography. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction studies showed that the phase transition occurred at 235°C, which is 5°C lower than blanket GeSb film but higher than that of Ge2Sb2Te5 (150°C). GeSb showed good temperature stability for fabrication of small memory devices.