Study of crystallization and thermal stability of superlattice-like SnSb4-GeTe thin films

Abstract In this study, two series of superlattice-like (SLL) SnSb 4 -GeTe thin films with mono-period and multi-period stacks are fabricated. [SnSb 4 (10 nm)-GeTe(40 nm)] 1 and [SnSb 4 (2 nm)-GeTe(10 nm)] 4 thin films are the most representative ones in terms of mono-period and multi-period stacking group, showing good crystallization speed and distinct thermal stability. The results illustrate that the similar crystallization speed ( 4 (10 nm)-GeTe(40 nm)] 1 and [SnSb 4 (2 nm)-GeTe(10 nm)] 4 thin films. In terms of thermal stability, the ten years data retention of [SnSb 4 (2 nm)-GeTe(10 nm)] 4 and [SnSb 4 (10 nm)-GeTe(40 nm)] 1 thin film are 102.3 °C and 149.5 °C respectively. The difference of the stability mainly derives from the different stacking number of SnSb 4 -GeTe interface, giving rise to the different degrees of interaction between pre-precipitates Sb (crystallization) and GeTe (amorphous).