Thermal properties and structure of TeGa2Sb7 thin films for phase-change memory

We disclose in this paper properties of a composition TeGa2Sb7 selected from the pseudo-tie line Sb80Te20-GaSb in Te-Ga-Sb system. TeGa2Sb7 film possesses crystallization temperature 236 °C and activation-energy of crystallization 5.76 eV, by Kissinger's peak-shift method. The study on failure-time versus isothermal temperatures fits in an Arrhenius plot, which can be extrapolated to the 10 year data retention at 200 °C. Grazing-incident X-ray diffraction shows that crystallized TeGa2Sb7 films compose of a single HCP phase. Electrical resistance decreases by four orders-of-magnitude upon crystallization. Memory switching is verified using a bridge-memory-cell. TeGa2Sb7 is a potential for phase-change memory anticipating high thermal stability.