Plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition of germanium antimony tellurium compounds

Plasma atomic layer deposition of Ge-Sb-Te (GST) thin films using halogen-free precursors is reported. The Sb and Te precursors tris(aziridinyl)antimony (III) (Sb[cyclo-NC2H4]3) and di-n-butylditelluride [Te2(n-C4H9)2] were employed for the first time in the deposition of GST thin films. Conformal filling of trenches has been demonstrated. The film thickness ratio between the top and the wall/bottom of trenches was evaluated: for “wide” (7:1 aspect ratio) trenches—dbottom/dtop ≈ 0.65, and for “narrow” (23:1 aspect ratio) trenches dwall/dtop > 0.63. Due to the use of amino precursors the as-deposited GST films were doped with nitrogen.