Transmission Electron Microscopy Study on the Crystallization of Sb–Se–Te Ternary Alloys

The microstructure of Sb–Se–Te ternary alloy thin films annealed at 220, 230, and 300 °C by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Compared to the Tm of Ge2Sb2Te5 (~616 °C), the lower Tm of the Sb–Se–Te (417 °C) thin film can contribute toward reducing power consumption for the reset process of phase change materials. The horizontal long grains – grown along the interface in a fully crystallized Sb–Se–Te thin film sample and annealed at 300 °C for 10 min – were hexagonal structured Sb2SeTe2 with 15 layers; the c-axis was perpendicular to the substrate.