Chalcogenide-based Ge15Te85 thin films have recently been explored for ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector devices for vertically stackable cross-point memory applications. Despite reasonable understanding over its crystallization kinetics and threshold switching properties, the structural stability and morphological acquaintance at elevated temperatures remain key challenges. In this paper, we investigate the thermal stability, surface morphology and local structure of as-deposited amorphous Ge15Te85 thin film starting from room temperature up to 325 °C. Our experimental results reveal that upon heating, the de-vitrification is initiated in the form of localized segregation of Te atoms at 120 °C, followed by crystallization of Te at ~220 °C and GeTe at ~263 °C as corroborated by temperature-dependent measurements of electrical resistance, x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic studies. Furthermore, the crystalline areas of these films are characterized by the fine-grained morphology, which clearly distinguishes the segregation of crystallization of Te and GeTe microstructures. These findings elucidate a deeper understanding of the multi-phase crystallization process through morphological evidence, which will be useful towards optimization of materials for OTS selector applications.
Threshold switching is a unique characteristic feature in amorphous chalcogenide materials that establishes stable and fast switching between a high resistance OFF state and a conductive ON state in the amorphous phase, envisaging the electronic nature of two-terminal ovonic threshold switch (OTS) selectors in vertically stackable cross-point memory arrays. In this paper, we demonstrate voltage-dependent nanosecond threshold switching dynamics and stable OFF–ON transitions of co-sputtered thin Ge15Te85 film devices using ultrafast time-resolved current–voltage measurements. The time-resolved measurement of device current upon the application of voltage pulse reveals a stable threshold switching and OFF–ON transient characteristics of OTS devices and the measured delay time is found to decrease to few nanoseconds upon increasing the amplitude of the applied voltage pulse and such OTS characteristics are found to be stable even above 60% of the high value of threshold voltage. These experimental results found to be consistent with analytical solutions and also demonstrate a systematic trend in the voltage dependent switching properties enabling ultrafast threshold switching characteristics suitable towards designing reliable and stable OTS selector devices.
Although numerous chalcogenide glass systems including GeTe6 and GexSe100−x have been explored for Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) selectors in vertically stackable cross‐point memory applications, yet an improved thermal and structural stability at elevated temperatures remains a key challenge. Herein, a systematic temperature‐dependent experimental investigation on the thermal stability and local structural changes of as‐deposited amorphous thin Ge20Te80 film is conducted for a wide range of temperatures from 25 to 260 °C. The coherent experimental studies reveal that the amorphous phase is stable up to 180 °C, and the crystallization process is initiated above 180 °C, by simultaneous crystallization of Te and GeTe until ≈238 °C as substantiated by temperature‐dependent sheet resistance, X‐ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopic measurements. Furthermore, the local structural changes over the crystallization process of Ge20Te80 thin film are elucidated by Raman spectroscopy. These experimental findings provide a decisive understanding of the thermal stability and structural evolution of Ge20Te80 thin films toward designing stable OTS selector materials.
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