Enhancing the Thermal Stability and Reducing the Resistance Drift of Sb Phase Change Films by Adding In2Se3 Interlayers

Abstract

In this paper, pure Sb and composite multilayer In2Se3/Sb thin films were prepared on a SiO2/Si substrate. The effects of the addition of In2Se3 interlayers on the physical and electrical properties of phase change thin films were investigated. Compared with pure Sb film, the composite multilayer In2Se3/Sb film had a higher crystallization temperature (~145 °C), larger crystallization activation energy (~2.48 eV), less resistance drift (~0.0238) and better thermal stability. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the In-Sb bond was formed in the multilayer In2Se3/Sb film. The near infrared spectrophotometer showed that the band gap changed at different annealing temperatures. Changing the annealing temperature of the film allowed for the phase structure of the film to be studied by using X-ray diffractometer. The surface morphology and electrostatic potential at different annealing temperatures were using atomic force microscope. It was found that the flat film had a smoother surface. Phase-change memory devices based on [In2Se3(4 nm)/Sb(6 nm)]8 film reduced power consumption by approximately 74% compared to pure Sb film. In conclusion, the In2Se3 interlayers effectively inhibited the resistance drift of the phase change thin film and enhanced its thermal stability.