Antimony alloys for phase-change memory with high thermal stability

We demonstrate two Sb-based alloys, Ga25Te8Sb67 and Ga18Te12Sb70, that have a crystallization temperature above 245 °C and activation energy of crystallization greater than 5 eV, for phase-change memory application. The temperature for 10 year data retention reaches 183 and 210 °C for Ga18Te12Sb70 and Ga25Te8Sb67, respectively. Test cells made of alloy Ga25Te8Sb67 show similar memory switching behavior at pulse widths of 500–20 ns. Compared with the benchmark chalcogenide Ge2Sb2Te5, the two antimonide alloys possess much improved thermal stability for applications in phase-change memory.