Phase transformation in Mg-Sb thin films

Thermal and electrical properties of Mg-Sb films were investigated for evaluation as phase-change memory materials. Electrical resistance of as-deposited amorphous Mg-Sb films decreases with increasing temperature until an abrupt drop at the crystallization temperature, with a total of 4 orders-of-magnitude resistance change. The crystallization temperatures increases from 140 °C to 190 °C as decreasing Sb content from 72.4 to 45.9 at.%, and the melting temperature remains at around 577 °C. The temperature corresponding to 10-year data-retention is 94 °C (54.6 at.% Sb) and 128 °C (41.3 at.% Sb), respectively. Optimal compositions are proposed to be 40 to 50 at.% Sb.