Electrical properties and crystal structures of nitrogen-doped Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film for phase change memory

Abstract The characteristics of nitrogen-doped Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 thin films deposited on Si (100) substrates were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, four-point probe and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the sheet resistance of the films annealed at 260 and 300 °C increased and the face-centered cubic (fcc) peaks of crystalline state of the films gradually disappeared with the increase of N 2 gas flow rate. At the N 2 gas flow rate of 12 sccm, however, the sheet resistance of the film remarkably dropped to around that of crystalline state of undoped film and the crystal structure transformed from fcc to hexagonal. The RMS roughness values of the films decreased by the nitrogen doping. However, the surface of the film deposited at the N 2 gas flow rate of 12 sccm was very rough due to crystallization of the film into hexagonal when the film was annealed at 260 °C for 20 min.