Thickness dependence of the amorphous-cubic and cubic-hexagonal phase transition temperatures of GeSbTe thin films on silicon nitride

The crystallization temperature of GeSbTe thin films with thicknesses between 11 and 87 nm on silicon nitride was studied through resistance versus temperature measurements. The amorphous-cubic phase transition occurs at similar to 150 degrees C for all films thicknesses, whereas the cubic-hexagonal phase transition temperature increases with film thickness, from similar to 200 degrees C for the 20 nm film to similar to 250 degrees C for the 87 nm film. The cubic-hexagonal transition occurs gradually for the 11 nm film. Implications for phase-change memory devices are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.