Improving the thermal stability and phase change speed in Sb70Se30 films through Er doping

For the phase change memory (PCM) application, it is very desirable to possess better comprehensive performance in phase change materials, such as high stability, ultra-faster phase change and low power consumption. In this work, Er doped Sb70Se30 phase change materials were synthesized by magnetron sputtering technique. Compared with pure Sb70Se30 films, it was found that the crystallization temperature (T c) increased from 207 to 221 °C by Er doping, revealing the improvement of thermal stability. In addition, the increasing resistance of amorphous and crystalline state indicated much lower power consumption for PCM. More importantly, the Er doping significantly inhibits the formation of Sb–Se phase, which is to result in much faster phase change speed. Therefore, this work elucidated that the SbSe materials with Er doping were promising candidates possessing better data retention, lower power consumption and faster phase change speed for PCM application.