Vapor-solid growth of Te-rich SbTe nanowires on a template of nano-size trenches

In this article, the growth of Te-rich SbTe nanowires inside the trench structure for phase change random access memory (PCRAM) was investigated using a modified atomic vapor deposition system. On the basis of understanding the film formation process and the kinetic parameters related to the boundary layer model, overall experimental conditions such as gas flow rate, working pressure, deposition temperature, and precursor injection fraction were controlled and analyzed to grow nanowires instead of thin films. The deposition behaviors were observed by top-view and cross-sectional SEM. Te-rich SbTe nanowires of well-ordered and even size were obtained on the trench structure as a template for growth despite not using any metallic catalysts. The crystallinity of the nanowires was confirmed by XRD and TEM. We expect that this work will provide a way to overcome the difficulty of filling nano-scale trenches by a conventional film deposition method.