Study on the phase change material Cr-doped Sb3Te1 for application in phase change memory

• The characteristics of Cr-doped Sb3Te1 materials were investigated for application in phase change memory.
• The thermal stability and data retention of materials get better by Cr doping.
• The crystal structures of films aren't changed by Cr doping.
• Cr element bonds with Sb and Te during crystallization.
• PCM cells based on Cr0.37Sb3Te1 were used to measure the SET/RESET operations.

The characteristics of Cr-doped Sb3Te1 materials were investigated for application in phase change memory (PCM). The crystalline temperature and activation energy of films increase with the increasing content of Cr doping. The X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectra methods were applied to analyze the crystal structure and chemical bonding character. It can be found that there are no new lattice structures appearing, and Cr element bonds with Te and Sb during the crystalline process. The size of grains decreases after doping Cr into Sb3Te1 by the analysis of transmission electron microscopy images, which indicates that the grains are localized in infinitesimal area by Cr atoms. The endurance of PCM cell keeps 3 × 104 cycles by applying SET operation pulse 1 V/100 ns and RESET operation pulse 2 V/30 ns with the resistance ratio of two orders of magnitude, which reveals good endurance performance and low power consumption. Cr0.37Sb3Te1 material is a potential candidate for application in PCM.